This Day in History – January 2, 2012

1776 – First revolutionary flag displayed 1788 – Georgia becomes the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution 1791 – Big Bottom massacre in the Ohio Country, marking the beginning of the Northwest Indian War 1800 – Free black community of Philadelphia PA petitions Congress to abolish slavery 1811 – US Senator Thomas Pickering becomes First senator to be censured (revealed confidential documents communicated by the President of the US) 1818 – The British Institution of Civil Engineers is founded 1831 – Liberator, abolitionist newspaper, begins publishing in Boston 1839 – First photo of the Moon (French photographer Louis Daguerre) 1842 – First US wire suspension bridge for general traffic opens in Pennsylvania 1860 – The discovery of the planet Vulcan is announced at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France 1893 – First US commemoratives & First US stamp to picture a woman issued 1935 – Bruno Hauptmann goes on trial for the murder of Charles Lindbergh, Jr., infant son of aviator Charles Lindbergh 1936 – First electron tube to enable night vision described, St Louis MO 1942 – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) convicts 33 members of a German spy ring headed by Fritz Joubert Duquesne in the largest espionage case in United States history—the Duquesne Spy Ring 1960 – Senator John F Kennedy, announces his candidacy for President 1974 – President Richard Nixon signs a bill lowering the maximum U.S. speed limit to 55 MPH in order to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo. 1975 – US Department of Interior designates grizzly bear a threatened species 1978 – Rhino Records releases their First album “Wildmania” 1979 – Sid Vicious’ trial for murder of girlfriend Nancy Spingen begins 1983 – Garry Trudeau takes a 20-month break from writing “Doonesbury” 1998 – Chris Farley’s autopsy results released, show he overdosed of opiates & cocaine 1999 – A brutal snowstorm smashes into the Midwestern United States, causing 14 inches (359 mm) of snow in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and 19 inches (487 mm) in Chicago, Illinois, where temperatures plunge to -13 °F (-25 °C); 68 deaths are reported 2004 – Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that are returned to Earth. 2006 – An explosion in a coal mine in Sago, West Virginia traps and kills 12 miners, while leaving one miner in critical condition.]]]]> ]]>