THIS DAY IN HISTORY:
In 1790, Congress moved from New York to Philadelphia.
In 1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, officially ending the institution of slavery, is ratified. "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
In 1884, Army engineers completed construction of the Washington Monument.
In 1889, Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, died in New Orleans.
In 1921, the Irish Free State, comprising four-fifths of Ireland, is declared, ending a five-year Irish struggle for independence from Britain.
In 1923, a presidential address was broadcast on radio for the first time as President Calvin Coolidge spoke to a joint session of Congress.
In 1933, a federal judge rules that Ulysses by James Joyce is not obscene. The book had been banned immediately in both the United States and England when it came out in 1922.
In 1947, Everglades National Park in Florida was dedicated by President Harry S. Truman.
In 1957, America's first attempt at putting a satellite into orbit blew up on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Fla.
In 1969, a concert by the Rolling Stones at the Altamont Speedway in Livermore, Calif., was marred by the deaths of four people, including one who was stabbed by a Hell's Angel.
In 1973, House minority leader Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as vice president, succeeding Spiro T. Agnew.
In 1982, 11 soldiers and six civilians were killed when an Irish National Liberation Army bomb exploded in a pub in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland.
In 1989, 14 women were shot to death at the University of Montreal's school of engineering by a man who then took his own life.
In 1989, Egon Krenz resigned as leader of East Germany.
Ten years ago today: Former Associate Attorney General Webster Hubbell pleaded guilty to defrauding his former law partners and clients of nearly $400,000. Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen announced his resignation. Orange County, Calif., filed for bankruptcy protection due to investment losses of about $2 billion.
Five years ago today: The Supreme Court, reconsidering its landmark Miranda ruling, agreed to decide whether police were still required to warn criminal suspects that they had a "right to remain silent." SabreTech, an aircraft maintenance company, was convicted of mishandling the oxygen canisters blamed for the cargo hold fire that caused the 1996 ValuJet crash in the Everglades that killed 110 people. (Eight of the nine counts were later thrown out on appeal.)
One year ago today: A U.S. warplane in pursuit of a "known terrorist" attacked a village in eastern Afghanistan, mistakenly killing nine children. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld met with senior American commanders in Iraq, and was assured that a recent switch to more aggressive anti-insurgency tactics had begun to pay off. Army became the first team to finish 0-13 in major college history after a 34-6 loss to Navy. Ireland's Rosanna Davison was crowned Miss World at the southern Chinese tropical resort of Sanya.
--
Today's Birthdays:
Jazz musician Dave Brubeck is 84. Country singer Helen Cornelius is 63. Actor James Naughton is 59. R&B singer Frankie Beverly (Maze) is 58. Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., is 56. Actress JoBeth Williams is 56. Actor Tom Hulce is 51. Actor Kin Shriner is 51. Talk show host Wil Shriner is 51. Actor Miles Chapin is 50. Rock musician Rick Buckler (The Jam) is 49. Comedian Steven Wright is 49. Country singer Bill Lloyd is 49. Singer Tish Hinojosa is 49. Rock musician Peter Buck (R.E.M.) is 48. Actress Janine Turner is 42. Rock musician Ben Watt (Everything But The Girl) is 42. Rock musician Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg (Ace of Base) is 34. Actress Lindsay Price is 28.