This Day in History – January 3, 2012

1431 – Joan of Arc is handed over to Bishop Pierre Cauchon. 1496 – Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine. 1777 – General George Washington defeats British General Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton. 1823 – Stephen F. Austin receives a grant of land in Texas from the government of Mexico. 1831 – First US building & loan association organized, Frankford PA 1861 – American Civil War: Delaware votes not to secede from the United States. 1861 – US Fort Pulaski & Fort Jackson, Savannah, seized by Georgia 1870 – The construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins; completed May 24, 1883 1872 – First patent list issued by US Patent Office 1876 – First free kindergarten in US opens in Florence MA 1888 – The refracting telescope at the Lick Observatory, measuring 91 cm in diameter, is used for the first time. It was the largest telescope in the world at the time. 1888 – First wax drinking straw patented, by Marvin C Stone in Washington DC 1911 – US postal savings bank inaugurated 1912 – Southern Pacific RR offers to bring Liberty Bell to Exposition, free 1918 – US employment service opens as a unit of Department of Labor 1919 – At the Paris Peace Conference, Emir Faisal of Iraq signs an agreement with Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann on the development of a Jewish homeland in Palestine and an Arab nation in a large part of the Middle East. 1920 – New York Yankees purchase Babe Ruth from Red Sox for $125,000 1922 – First living person identified on a US coin (Thomas E Kirby) on the Alabama Centennial half-dollar 1925 – Benito Mussolini announces dissolution of the Italian parliament and becomes dictator 1926 – Greek General Theodorus Pángulos names himself dictator 1933 – Minnie D. Craig becomes the first female elected as Speaker of the North Dakota House of Representatives, the first female to hold a Speaker position anywhere in the United States. 1938 – The March of Dimes is established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. 1943 – First missing persons telecast (New York City NY) 1944 – World War II: Top Ace Major Greg “Pappy” Boyington is shot down in his Corsair by Captain Masajiro Kawato flying a Zero. 1945 – World War II: Admiral Chester W Nimitz is placed in command of all U.S. Naval forces in preparation for planned assaults against Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Japan. 1952 – “Dragnet” with Jack Webb premieres on NBC TV 1957 – The Hamilton Watch Company (Lancaster, PA) introduces the first electric watch. 1958 – The West Indies Federation is formed. 1958 – Edmund Hillary reaches South Pole over land 1959 – Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. State. 1961 – The United States severs diplomatic relations with Cuba. 1962 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro. 1962 – Ground is broken for the Houston Astrodome 1987 – Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducts First female artist Aretha Franklin 1988 – Margaret Thatcher becomes longest-serving British PM this century 1993 – In Moscow, George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). 1994 – More than seven million people from the former Apartheid Homelands, receive South African citizenship. 1997 – Bryant Gumbel co-hosted his final “Today” show on NBC-TV 1999 – Israel detains, and later expels, 14 members of Concerned Christians. 2004 – Flash Airlines Flight 604 crashes into the Red Sea, resulting in 148 deaths, making it the deadliest aviation accident in Egyptian history.]]]]> ]]>