1792 US postal service created, postage 6-12 cents depending on distance.
1864 Charles Cardwell McCabe, the Methodist chaplain whose singing made Julia Howe’s “Battle Hymn of the Republic” famous, sings it for President Abraham Lincoln in the White House. Lincoln cries, “Sing it again.” Afterward, the president remarks, “Take it all in all, the song and the singing, that was the best I ever heard.” McCabe will later be elected a Methodist bishop.
1872 New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art opens.
1873 British Naval Officer John Moresby discovers the site of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea and claims it for Britain.
1938 UK Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden resigns stating Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain has appeased Nazi Germany.
1947 Earl Mountbatten of Burma appointed as last viceroy of India to oversee the move to independence.
Historical Events Today
Today in Film & TV
1952 “African Queen” film directed by John Huston, starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn is released in the US.
Today in Music
1816 Gioachino Rossini’s comic opera “Barber of Seville” premieres at the Teatro Argentina in Rome, Italy.
Today in Sport
1953 US Court of Appeals rules that Organized Baseball is a sport & not a business, affirming the 25-year-old Supreme Court ruling.
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1472 Orkney and Shetland are left by Norway to Scotland, due to a dowry payment
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2012 Scientists successfully regenerate the flowering plant, Silene stenophylla from a 31,800 year old piece of fruit, greatly surpassing the previous record of 2,000 years
