Robert McCloskey(American author and illustrator)β
Mojave Max(spring prognosticator)β
Events
Michigan Territory was establishedβ
The Gadsden Purchase Treaty, signed on this day, transferred territory to the United States making southern Arizona and New Mexico part of the nationβ
Jean Francois Gravelet, a Frenchman known professionally as Emile or Charles Blondin, became the first to walk across Niagara Falls on a tightropeβ
London’s Tower Bridge openedβ
The Meat Inspection Act became lawβ
Tunguska fireball in sky, Russiaβ
Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind was publishedβ
New York Yankee Joe Dimaggio and Boston Red Sox Dom Dimaggio hit home runs in the same game. It was the first time brothers had hit home runs in the same game in the majors in 15 years.β
General Motors unveiled the Corvette, the first sports car with a fiberglass bodyβ
The 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, lowering the voting age to 18, ratified as Ohio became the 38th state to approve itβ
George Harrison’s βGive Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)β topped the chartsβ
The famous July 4th scene from the Steven Spielberg movie Jaws was filmed at Martha’s Vineyardβ
Canadaβs loonie coin entered circulationβ
Tonya Harding was banned from the U. S. Figure Skating Association for lifeβ
The international space station’s two astronauts hustled through a risky spacewalk and successfully replaced a bad circuit breakerβ
Chester Arthur Reed, the oldest U.S. postal worker, retired at the age of 95. He accrued 3,856 hours of sick leave due to not missing a shift in 37 years.β
A leap second was added to the world’s atomic clocks to keep up with the slowing rotation of the earthβ
The first photo of a confirmed baby planet (PDS 70b) was announcedβ
Weather
One inch of snow fell during a thunderstorm in Woodstock, Vermontβ