This Day in History – April 7, 2011

0030 Jesus crucified by Roman troops in Jerusalem (scholars’ estimate, according to astronomer Schaefer) 1798 Territory of Mississippi is organized 1818 General Andrew Jackson conquers St Marks FL from Seminole Indians 1827 English chemist John Walker invents wooden matches 1891 Nebraska introduces the 8 hour work day 1902 Texas Oil Company (Texaco) forms 1923 1st brain tumor operation under local anesthetic performed (Beth Israel Hospital in NYC) by Dr K Winfield Ney 1926 Mussolini’s Irish wife breaks his nose 1927 Using phone lines TV is sent from Washington DC to New York NY 1933 Prohibition ends, Utah becomes 38th state to ratify 21st Amendment 1940 1st black to appear on US stamp (Booker T Washington) 1943 NFL adopts free substitution rule 1948 World Health Organization established by UN 1953 1st west-to-east jet transatlantic nonstop flight 1958 Dodgers erect 42-foot screen in left field at Los Angeles Coliseum to cut down on home runs, since it is only 250 feet down the line 1959 Radar 1st bounced off sun, Stanford CA 1959 Oklahoma ends prohibition, after 51 years 1963 Public stock offering of 115,000 shares in Milwaukee Braves withdrawn after only 13,000 shares are sold to 1,600 new investors 1966 US recovers lost H-bomb from Mediterranean floor (whoops!) 1969 Supreme Court strikes down laws prohibiting private possession of obscene material 1977 Consumer Product Safety Commission bans the flame-retardant chemical “TRIS” 1978 President Jimmy Carter defers production of the neutron bomb 1978 Guttenberg bible sold for $2,000,000 in NYC 1980 Jimmy Carter breaks relations with Iran during hostage crisis 1981 Willem Klein mentally extracts 13th root of a 100-digit # in 29 seconds 1983 Oldest human skeleton, aged 80,000 years, discovered in Egypt 1985 1st live telecast of Easter Parade 1991 Compton Gamma Ray Observatory orbits Earth 1994 Vatican acknowledges Holocaust for 1st time]]]]> ]]>