This Day in History – April 8, 2011

1730 1st Jewish congregation in US consecrates synagogue, “Shearith Israel, NYC” 1766 1st fire escape patented, wicker basket on a pulley & chain 1781 Premiere of Mozart’s violin sonata K379 1789 House of Representives 1st meeting 1861 US mint at Dahlonega GA seized by confederacy 1862 John D Lynde patents aerosol dispenser 1865 General Robert E Lee surrenders at Appomattox Court House in Virginia 1869 American Museum of Natural History opens (New York NY) 1879 Milk is sold in glass bottles for 1st time 1893 The Critic reports that the ice cream soda is our national drink 1946 League of Nations assembles for last time 1947 Largest recorded sunspot (7,000) observed 1952 President Harry Truman seizes the steel mills to prevent a strike 1964 Unmanned Gemini 1 launched 1966 OAO 1, the 1st orbiting astronomical observatory, is launched 1974 Hammerin’ Hank Aaron hits 715th homerun, breaks Babe Ruth’s record 1975 Frank Robinson debuts as 1st black baseball manager (Cleveland, beats New York 5-3) 1979 204th & final episode of “All in the Family” 1986 Clint Eastwood elected mayor of Carmel CA 1988 Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, 52, was defrocked by the Assemblies of God following the disclosure of his involvement with a prostitute. (Swaggart was ordered to stay off TV for a year, but had returned after only three months.) 1990 “Twin Peaks” with Peggy Lipton premieres on ABC-TV 1991 Michael Landon announces he has inoperable cancer of the pancreas 1991 Oakland A’s Stadium becomes 1st outdoor arena to ban smoking 1992 After 151 years Britain’s “Punch Magazine” final issue 1994 Darryl Strawberry enters Betty Ford clinic 1994 Smoking banned in Pentagon & all US military bases 1994 Kurt Cobain, lead singer of Nirvana, is found dead in Seattle, Washington. His death is believed to have been a suicide. 1997 The Stickney-Eliasberg pedigree US 1804 Draped Bust silver dollar sells for US$1.815 million, a record for a single coin at auction. A US 1885 Trade dollar, Proof, finest of 5 known, sells for $907,500 to Jay Parrino. 1998 UNSCOM reports to the United Nations Security Council that Iraq’s declaration on its biological weapons program is incomplete and inadequate. 2002 Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing changes its company name to 3M Company. 2004 The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes AT&T Corporation, Eastman Kodak Company and International Paper Company from its index, replacing them with American International Group Incorporated, Pfizer Incorporated, and Verizon Communications Incorporated. 2005 Two million people pack Vatican City for the funeral of Pope John Paul II, possibly the biggest funeral in history. 2010 British Airways and Spanish airline Iberia sign a deal to merge and create one of the world’s biggest airline groups, to be called International Airlines Group.]]]]> ]]>