April 8th
Today in America's Present Past
1460 | Explorer Juan Ponce de León was born.
1726 | Founder Lewis Morris was born.
1730 Civil Rights: Congregation Shearith Israel opens as New York’s first synagogue.
1732 | Astronomer David Rittenhouse was born.
1779 | General Benedict Arnold weds Peggy Shippen.
1842 | Author (and wife of General Custer) Elizabeth Bacon Custer was born in Monroe, Michigan.
1855 | Indian Wars: America’s victory in the Jicarilla War.
1857 | Crabb massacre.
1861 | Entrepreneur Elisha Otis died.
1862 | Entrepreneur John D. Lynde patents aerosol dispensers.
1864 | Civil War: Battle of Mansfield, Louisiana
1869 | Museum of Natural History opens in New York City.
1886 | Novelist Margaret Ayer is born.
1888 | Civil Rights: the first Hispanic U.S. Senator, Dennis Chavez, was born.
1913 | Congress: The 17th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, allowing senators to be elected by popular vote.
1918 | POTUS: Betty Ford, First Lady, was born.
1918 | Novelist Glendon Swarthout was born in Pickney, Michigan.
1919 | Entrepreneur Frank Winfield Woodsworth died.
1943 | POTUS: Democrat President Roosevelt freezes wages and prices, prohibits workers from changing jobs unless the war effort is aided thereby, and bars rate increases for common carriers and public utilities.
1947 | Congress: Speaker Tom DeLay was born.
1952 | POTUS: Democrat President Truman seizes steel mills to avert a strike.
1955 | Author Barbara Kingsolver was born.
1960 | Actor John Schneider was born.
1968 | Civil Rights: MLK-related riots continue in Cincinnati, Ohio.
1974 | Sniper Chris Kyle was born.
1981 | General Omar Bradley died.
1983 | TV: In front of a live audience, David Copperfield makes the Statue of Liberty disappear.