This Day in History – October 1, 2011

1800 Spain cedes Louisiana to France via the Treaty of San Ildefonso. 1811 The first steamboat to sail the Mississippi River arrives in New Orléans, Louisiana. 1880 First electric lamp factory is opened by Thomas Edison. 1891 In the U.S. state of California, Stanford University opens its doors. 1903 Baseball: The Boston Americans play the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first game of the modern World Series. 1908 Ford puts the Model T car on the market at a price of US$825. 1910 Los Angeles Times bombing: A large bomb destroys the Los Angeles Times building in downtown Los Angeles, California, killing 21. 1931 The George Washington Bridge linking New Jersey and New York opens. 1940 The Pennsylvania Turnpike, often considered the first superhighway in the United States, opens to traffic. 1957 First appearance of In God We Trust on U.S. paper currency. 1958 NASA is created to replace NACA. 1960 Nigeria gains independence from the United Kingdom. 1962 First broadcast of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson 1964 The Free Speech Movement is launched on the campus of University of California, Berkeley. 1966 West Coast Airlines Flight 956 crashes with eighteen fatalities and no survivors 5.5 miles south of Wemme, Oregon. This accident marks the first loss of a DC-9. 1969 Concorde breaks the sound barrier for the first time. 1971 Walt Disney World opens near Orlando, Florida, United States. 1971 The first brain-scan using x-ray computed tomography (CT or CAT scan) is performed at Atkinson Morley Hospital in Wimbledon, London. 1979 The United States returns sovereignty of the Panama canal to Panama. 1982 EPCOT Center opens at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, United States. 1982 Sony launches the first consumer compact disc player (model CDP-101). 1989 Denmark introduces the world’s first legal modern same-sex civil union called “registered partnership”. 1994 Palau gains independence from the United Nations (trusteeship administered by the United States of America). 1998 Vladimir Putin becomes a permanent member of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. 2009 The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom takes over the judicial functions of the House of Lords.]]]]> ]]>