Post by MacBeth on Feb 20, 2009 8:47:12 GMT -5
In 1792, President George Washington signed an act creating the U.S. Post Office.
In 1809, the Supreme Court, in United States v. Peters, 9 U.S. 115, ruled that no state legislature could annul the judgments or determine the jurisdictions of federal courts.
In 1839, Congress prohibited dueling in the District of Columbia.
In 1938, Anthony Eden resigned as British foreign secretary following Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's decision to negotiate with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
In 1944, during World War II, U.S. bombers began raiding German aircraft manufacturing centers in a series of attacks that became known as "Big Week."
In 1947, a chemical mistake at the O'Connor Electro-Plating Co. in Los Angeles causes a huge explosion, killing 17 and leaving a 22 foot crater. Four city blocks suffer severe devastation, with over 100 buildings damaged.
In 1959, the Dow Jones industrial average closed above 600 for the first time, at 602.21.
In 1962, astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth as he flew aboard the Mercury spacecraft Friendship 7.
In 1965, the Ranger 8 spacecraft crashed on the moon after sending back thousands of pictures of the lunar surface.
In 1971, the National Emergency Warning Center in Colorado erroneously ordered U.S. radio and TV stations off the air; some stations heeded the alert, which was not lifted for about 40 minutes.
In 1984, ballerina Julia Pak marries the ghost of Sun Myung Moon's dead son, Heung Jin Moon, in a tasteful necro-ceremony. The couple were engaged to be married, but a car accident in December intervened. Unfortunately in the Moonie religion, only married couples may enter Heaven, hence the need for this awkward rite.
In 1999, the United States and five other nations agreed to extend by three days a deadline for a Kosovo peace agreement. (NATO had threatened airstrikes against the Serbs if they did not reach an agreement with Albanian insurgents.)
In 2004, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered the state attorney general to take immediate legal steps to stop same-sex weddings in San Francisco. (On March 11, 2004, the California Supreme Court ordered an immediate halt to same-sex weddings in San Francisco.) Bypassing angry Senate Democrats, President George W. Bush installed Alabama Attorney General William Pryor as a U.S. appeals court judge in his second "recess appointment" of a controversial nominee in five weeks.
In 2008, a US Navy cruiser blasted a disabled spy satellite with a pinpoint missile strike that achieved the main mission of exploding a tank of toxic fuel 130 miles above the Pacific Ocean. Space shuttle Atlantis and its crew returned to Earth, after delivering a new European lab to the international space station.
In 1809, the Supreme Court, in United States v. Peters, 9 U.S. 115, ruled that no state legislature could annul the judgments or determine the jurisdictions of federal courts.
In 1839, Congress prohibited dueling in the District of Columbia.
In 1938, Anthony Eden resigned as British foreign secretary following Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's decision to negotiate with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
In 1944, during World War II, U.S. bombers began raiding German aircraft manufacturing centers in a series of attacks that became known as "Big Week."
In 1947, a chemical mistake at the O'Connor Electro-Plating Co. in Los Angeles causes a huge explosion, killing 17 and leaving a 22 foot crater. Four city blocks suffer severe devastation, with over 100 buildings damaged.
In 1959, the Dow Jones industrial average closed above 600 for the first time, at 602.21.
In 1962, astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth as he flew aboard the Mercury spacecraft Friendship 7.
In 1965, the Ranger 8 spacecraft crashed on the moon after sending back thousands of pictures of the lunar surface.
In 1971, the National Emergency Warning Center in Colorado erroneously ordered U.S. radio and TV stations off the air; some stations heeded the alert, which was not lifted for about 40 minutes.
In 1984, ballerina Julia Pak marries the ghost of Sun Myung Moon's dead son, Heung Jin Moon, in a tasteful necro-ceremony. The couple were engaged to be married, but a car accident in December intervened. Unfortunately in the Moonie religion, only married couples may enter Heaven, hence the need for this awkward rite.
In 1999, the United States and five other nations agreed to extend by three days a deadline for a Kosovo peace agreement. (NATO had threatened airstrikes against the Serbs if they did not reach an agreement with Albanian insurgents.)
In 2004, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered the state attorney general to take immediate legal steps to stop same-sex weddings in San Francisco. (On March 11, 2004, the California Supreme Court ordered an immediate halt to same-sex weddings in San Francisco.) Bypassing angry Senate Democrats, President George W. Bush installed Alabama Attorney General William Pryor as a U.S. appeals court judge in his second "recess appointment" of a controversial nominee in five weeks.
In 2008, a US Navy cruiser blasted a disabled spy satellite with a pinpoint missile strike that achieved the main mission of exploding a tank of toxic fuel 130 miles above the Pacific Ocean. Space shuttle Atlantis and its crew returned to Earth, after delivering a new European lab to the international space station.