This Day in History – June 17, 2011

1579 Sir Francis Drake lands on the coast of Calif 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill (actually it was Breed’s Hill) 1837 Charles Goodyear obtains his 1st rubber patent 1856 Republican Party opens its 1st national convention in Philadelphia 1863 Travelers Insurance Co of Hartford chartered (1st accident insurer) 1885 Statue of Liberty arrived in NYC aboard French ship `Isere’ 1894 1st US poliomyelitis epidemic breaks out, Rutland, Vermont 1940 France asks Germany for terms of surrender in WW II 1942 1st WW II American expeditionary force lands in Africa (Gold Coast) 1946 SW Bell inaugurates mobile telephone commercial service, St Louis 1950 1st kidney transplant (Chicago) 1963 Supreme Court rules against Bible reading/prayer in public schools 1972 5 arrested for burglarizing Democratic Party HQ at Watergate 1982 Pres Reagan 1st UN Gen Assembly address (“evil empire” speech) 1988 Microsoft releases MS DOS 4.0 1988 Women sentenced to 90 years in 1st product tampering murder case]]]]> ]]>