Today in 1792,ย twenty-five local retailers and brokersย founded the New York Stock Exchange.
Today in 1875,ย theย first Kentucky Derby was runย โ the winner was "Aristides."
Today in 1881,ย Frederick Douglassย was appointed recorder of deeds for Washington, D.C.
Today in 1932,ย the U.S. Congressย changed the name "Porto Rico" to "Puerto Rico."
Today in 1938, Congress approved Vinson Naval Act,ย which funded a โtwo-ocean navy.โ
Today in 1973,ย the Senateย opened its hearings into the Watergate scandal.
Today in 1978,ย Philips announcedย the coming of the compact disc.
Today in 1993,ย the first computersย using Intel's new microprocessors, the Pentium, were unveiled.
Today in 1996,ย President Clintonย signed โMegan's Law,โ a measure requiring neighborhood notification when sex offenders move in. The law was named for 7-year-oldย Megan Kanka,ย who was raped and killed in 1994.
Today in 1998,ย New York Yankees pitcher David Wellsย became the 13th player in modern major league baseball history to throw a perfect gameย when he retired all 27 batters he faced in a 4-to-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins.
Today in 2000,ย two former Ku Klux Klansmenย were arrested on murder charges in the 1963 Birmingham church bombingย that killed four black girls on a Sunday morning โ a crime that shocked the nation and galvanized the civil rights movement.ย Thomas E. Blanton Jr.ย of Birmingham, andย Bobby Frank Cherryย of Mabank, Texas, surrendered on the state charges and were jailed without bail. Thomas Blanton Junior was convicted and sentenced to life in prison (he remains housed at St. Clair Correctional Facility in Alabama. Last denied parole in 2016, he can apply again in 2021). Bobby Frank Cherry was indicted in 2000, but his trial was delayed after evaluations raised questions about his mental competency. He was eventually declared competent and in May 2002 he was convicted of first-degree murder charges. He was automatically sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. He died in prison at the age of 74.
Today in 2004,ย Massachusetts became the first of the United Statesย to legalize same-sex marriage.
Today in 2017,ย Chelsea Manning, the soldier who was sentenced to 35-years in a military prison for giving classified materials to WikiLeaks,ย walked free after serving seven years behind bars, her sentence having been commuted by President Barack Obama.
Today in 2017,ย the Justice Departmentย appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to oversee a federal investigationย into potential coordination between Russia and Donald Trumpโs campaign during the 2016 presidential election.
Today in 2020,ย Michael Jordan's autographed Air Nike 1sย shoes from 1985 sold for a record $560-thousand in an online auction.
Today in 2020,ย former President Barack Obamaย criticized the US government's handling of the pandemic during an online address