2011
NASA’s Endeavour Space Shuttle landed for its 25th and final time.
Mission STS-134 was meant to be the final Space Shuttle Mission, but another mission was later added at the last minute and flown by the Atlantis Space Shuttle. During the Endeavour’s lifetime, it spent 299 days in space, flying a total of 122,883,151 miles (197,761,262 km).
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2009
General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the US.
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1994
South Africa rejoined the Commonwealth of Nations after ending Apartheid.
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1980
CNN made its debut as the first 24-hour news channel.
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1974
The Heimlich Maneuver was published in an article for the first time.
The life-saving maneuver to rescue choking victims was invented by Henry Heimlich, the technique’s namesake.
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1951
The European Union expanded the 1951 Stresa Convention.
This change made it illegal for others to imitate cheeses already named. It was the first time union states joined together to agree on the names of cheeses.
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1946
Ion Antonescu, Romania’s dictatorial World War II leader, was executed by firing squad.
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1917
Baseball and war hero Hank Gowdy became the first player to enlist in the US Army during World War II.
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1880
The first payphone went into service in the US.
Phone calls were paid for by handing over cash to an attendant. The first coin-operated payphone wouldn’t come into existence for another nine years!
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1874
The Philadelphia Zoo opened. At the time, it was the only zoo in the “New World.”
The zoo opened with 1,000 animals, and admission was 25 cents!
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1843
Anti Slavery activist Isabella Baumfree became a Methodist and changed her name to Sojourner Truth.
She chose the name after being approached by God, who advised her to spread the truth about slavery.
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1815
Napoleon I undertook a ceremony to make his authority officially recognized.
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1796
Tennessee became the 16th state to join the United States of America.
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1792
Kentucky became the 15th state to join the United States of America.
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1670
Charles II of England and Louis XIV of France signed the Secret Treaty of Dover.
As a part of the treaty’s terms, Charles II was to convert to the Roman Catholic Church and send troops and ships to France’s aid in its war against the Dutch Republic. In return, Charles II received a yearly pension from France and a promise of aid if he was faced with a rebellion.
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1533
Anne Boleyn was crowned the Queen of England at Westminster Abbey.
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