This Day in History – May 29, 2011

1721 South Carolina formally incorporated as a royal colony 1765 Patrick Henry historic speech against the Stamp Act, answering a cry of “Treason!” with, “If this be treason, make the most of it!” 1787 “Virginia Plan” proposed 1790 Rhode Island becomes last of original 13 colonies ratifying Constitution 1848 Wisconsin becomes 30th state 1849 Lincoln says “You can fool some of the people all of the time, & some of people some of time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of time” 1849 Patent for lifting vessels granted to Abraham Lincoln 1900 Trademark “Escalator” registered by Otis Elevator Co 1909 Frank “Home Run” Baker’s 1st career homerun 1911 1st Indianapolis 500 car race, Ray Harroun wins at 74.59 mph (120 kph) 1916 Official flag of President of US adopted 1919 Einstein’s light-bending prediction confirmed by Arthur Eddington 1922 US Supreme Court rules organized baseball is a sport and not a business and thus not subject to antitrust laws 1942 Bing Crosby records “White Christmas” greatest selling record to date 1943 Confederacy of Algiers (Churchill-Marshall-Eisenhower) 1943 Meat & cheese rationed in US 1953 Edmund P Hillary & Tensing Norkay are 1st to reach summit of Mount Everest 1967 Australian Paul McManus waterskis barefoot for 1:30:19 1967 Pope Paul VI names 27 new cardinals, including Karol Wojtyla, archbishop of Krakow, who later became Pope John Paul II 1968 Truth in Lending Act signed into law 1973 Columbia Records fires president Clive Davis for misappropriating $100,000 in funds, Davis will start Arista records 1976 Only homerun of Joe Niekro’s 22-year career, comes off brother Phil 1977 A J Foyt wins Indianapolis 500 (average speed of 161.331 mph) for a record 4th time 1977 Janet Guthrie becomes 1st woman to drive in the Indianapolis 500 1978 1st class postage now 15¢ (13¢ for 3 years) 1979 Radio’s 1st rock network “The Source” premieres 1980 Larry Bird beats out Magic Johnson for NBA rookie of year 1982 1st papal visit to Britain since 1531 1982 Pentagon plans 1st strategy to fight a nuclear war 1987 Michael Jackson attempts to buy Elephant Man’s remains 1989 Student protesters in Tiananmen Square China construct a replica of the Statue of Liberty 1994 Great comet-iceball seen above North Sea 1997 Span scientists announce new human species in 780,000 year old fossil]]]]> ]]>