This Day in History – April 25, 2011

1684 Patent granted for the thimble 1859 Ground broken for Suez Canal 1862 Battle of New Orleans LA – US Admiral Farragut occupies New Orleans 1881 250,000 Germans petition to bar foreign Jews from entering Germany 1886 Sigmund Freud opens practice at Rathausstrasse 7, Vienna 1898 US declares war on Spain over Cuba 1901 New York becomes 1st state requiring auto license plates ($1 fee) 1928 Buddy, a German Shepherd, becomes 1st guide dog for the blind 1933 US & Canada drop Gold Standard 1944 United Negro College Fund incorporates 1953 Scientists identify DNA 1954 Bell labs announces 1st solar battery (New York NY) 1954 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island 1956 Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel” goes #1 1962 US Ranger spacecraft crash lands on the Moon 1967 Abortion legalized in Colorado 1971 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR 1973 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site 1974 NFL moves the goal posts & adopts sudden-death playoff 1975 USSR performs underground nuclear test 1978 Supreme Court rules pension plans can’t require women to pay more 1982 In accordance with Camp David, Israel completes Sinai withdrawal 1982 Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site 1983 “Nightline” expands from ½ hour to a full hour 1983 Yuri Andropov invites US schoolgirl Samantha Smith to USSR 1988 “Nightline” goes on location to Jerusalem Israel 1988 NASA launches space vehicle S-211]]]]> ]]>