Post by MacBeth on Mar 21, 2009 7:02:49 GMT -5
In 1790, Thomas Jefferson took office as America's first secretary of state.
In 1804, the French civil code, or the "Code Napoleon" as it was later called, was adopted.
In 1871, Journalist Henry M. Stanley began an expedition to Africa to locate missing Scottish missionary David Livingstone.
In 1907, U.S. Marines arrived in Honduras to protect American lives and interests in the wake of political violence.
In 1918, Germany launched the Somme offensive during World War I, hoping to break through the Allied line before American reinforcements could arrive.
In 1946, the United Nations set up temporary headquarters at Hunter College in New York City.
In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan began a four-day conference in Bermuda.
In 1960, some 70 people were killed in Sharpeville, South Africa, when police fired on demonstrators.
In 1963, the Alcatraz federal prison island in San Francisco Bay was emptied of its last inmates at the order of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
In 1965, more than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. began their march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama
In 1972, the Supreme Court, in Dunn v. Blumstein, ruled that states may not require at least a year's residency for voting eligibility.
In 1985, police in Langa, South Africa, opened fire on blacks marching to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sharpeville shootings; the reported death toll varies between 29 and 43.
In 1990, Namibia became an independent nation as the former colony marked the end of 75 years of South African rule.
In 1999, Israel's Supreme Court rejected a final effort to have American teenager Samuel Sheinbein returned to the United States to face murder charges. (Under a plea agreement with Israeli prosecutors, Sheinbein was later sentenced to 24 years in prison for the murder of Alfred Tello Jr.)
In 2000, a divided Supreme Court ruled the government lacked authority to regulate tobacco as an addictive drug.
In 2004, the White House disputed assertions by President George W. Bush's former counterterrorism coordinator, Richard A. Clarke, that the administration had failed to recognize the risk of an attack by al-Qaida in the months leading up to 9/11. (Clarke's assertions were contained in a new book, "Against All Enemies," that went on sale the next day.) Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid won the prestigious 2004 Pritzker Architecture Prize, becoming the first woman to receive the profession's highest honor.
In 2005, armed with a new law rushed through a GOP controlled Congress and signed by President George W. Bush, the attorney for Terri Schiavo's parents pleaded with a judge to order the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube re-inserted. (The judge later refused.)
In 2008, officials admitted that at least four State Department workers had pried into the supposedly secure passport files of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain, prompting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to personally apologize to the presidential contenders.
In 1804, the French civil code, or the "Code Napoleon" as it was later called, was adopted.
In 1871, Journalist Henry M. Stanley began an expedition to Africa to locate missing Scottish missionary David Livingstone.
In 1907, U.S. Marines arrived in Honduras to protect American lives and interests in the wake of political violence.
In 1918, Germany launched the Somme offensive during World War I, hoping to break through the Allied line before American reinforcements could arrive.
In 1946, the United Nations set up temporary headquarters at Hunter College in New York City.
In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan began a four-day conference in Bermuda.
In 1960, some 70 people were killed in Sharpeville, South Africa, when police fired on demonstrators.
In 1963, the Alcatraz federal prison island in San Francisco Bay was emptied of its last inmates at the order of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
In 1965, more than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. began their march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama
In 1972, the Supreme Court, in Dunn v. Blumstein, ruled that states may not require at least a year's residency for voting eligibility.
In 1985, police in Langa, South Africa, opened fire on blacks marching to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sharpeville shootings; the reported death toll varies between 29 and 43.
In 1990, Namibia became an independent nation as the former colony marked the end of 75 years of South African rule.
In 1999, Israel's Supreme Court rejected a final effort to have American teenager Samuel Sheinbein returned to the United States to face murder charges. (Under a plea agreement with Israeli prosecutors, Sheinbein was later sentenced to 24 years in prison for the murder of Alfred Tello Jr.)
In 2000, a divided Supreme Court ruled the government lacked authority to regulate tobacco as an addictive drug.
In 2004, the White House disputed assertions by President George W. Bush's former counterterrorism coordinator, Richard A. Clarke, that the administration had failed to recognize the risk of an attack by al-Qaida in the months leading up to 9/11. (Clarke's assertions were contained in a new book, "Against All Enemies," that went on sale the next day.) Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid won the prestigious 2004 Pritzker Architecture Prize, becoming the first woman to receive the profession's highest honor.
In 2005, armed with a new law rushed through a GOP controlled Congress and signed by President George W. Bush, the attorney for Terri Schiavo's parents pleaded with a judge to order the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube re-inserted. (The judge later refused.)
In 2008, officials admitted that at least four State Department workers had pried into the supposedly secure passport files of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain, prompting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to personally apologize to the presidential contenders.