This Day in History – May 16, 2011

1770 Marie Antoinette, at age 14, married the future King Louis XVI of France, who was 15. 1866 The U.S. Congress authorized the first 5-cent piece to be minted. 1868 U.S. President Andrew Johnson was acquitted during the Senate impeachment, by one vote. 1879 The Treaty of Gandamak between Russia and England set up the Afghan state. 1881 In Germany the first electric tram for the public started service. 1888 The first demonstration of recording on a flat disc was demonstrated by Emile Berliner. 1888 The capitol of Texas was dedicated in Austin. 1910 The U.S. Bureau of Mines was authorized by the U.S. Congress. 1914 The American Horseshoe Pitchers Association (AHPA) was formed in Kansas City, Kansas. 1920 Joan of Arc was canonized in Rome. 1929 The first Academy Awards were held in Hollywood. 1939 The Philadelphia Athletics and the Cleveland Indians met at Shibe Park in Philadelphia for the first baseball game to be played under the lights in the American League. 1946 “Annie Get Your Gun” opened on Broadway. 1946 Jack Mullin showed the world the first magnetic tape recorder. 1948 The body of CBS News correspondent George Polk was found in Solonika Bay in Greece. It had been a week after he’d disappeared. 1960 A Big Four summit in Paris collapsed due to the American U-2 spy plane incident. 1960 Theodore Maiman, at Hughes Research Laboratory in California, demonstrated the first working laser. 1963 After 22 Earth orbits Gordon Cooper returned to Earth, ending Project Mercury. 1965 Spaghetti-O’s went on sale. 1969 Venus 5, a Russian spacecraft, landed on the planet Venus. 1971 U.S. postage for a one-ounce first class stamp was increased from 6 to 8 cents. 1975 Japanese climber Junko Tabei became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest. 1977 Five people were killed when a New York Airways helicopter, idling on top of the Pan Am Building in Manhattan, toppled over, sending a huge rotor blade flying. 1985 Michael Jordan was named Rookie of the Year in the NBA. 1987 The Bobro 400 set sail from New York Harbor with 3,200 tons of garbage. The barge travelled 6,000 miles in search of a place to dump its load. It returned to New York Harbor after 8 weeks with the same load. 1988 A report released by Surgeon General C. Everett Koop declared that nicotine was addictive in similar was as heroin and cocaine. 1988 The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police do not have to have a search warrant to search discarded garbage. 1991 Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress. 1992 The Endeavour space shuttle landed safely after its maiden voyage. 1996 Admiral Jeremy “Mike” Boorda, the nation’s top Navy officer, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after some of his military awards were called into question. 1997 In Zaire, President Mobutu Sese Seko gave control of the country to rebel forces ending 32 years of autocratic rule. 2000 U.S. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton was nominated to run for U.S. Senator in New York. She was the first U.S. first lady to run for public office. 2003 Adam Rich was placed on three years probation after he pled no contest to misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence and being under the influence of a controlled substance. He was also ordered to take part ina 60-day treatment program and pay about $1,200 in fines. 2005 Sony Corp. unveiled three styles of its new PlayStation 3 video game machine.]]]]> ]]>