This Day in History
In Alaska
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• In 1917, a fire wiped out much of the Valdez business district.
• In 1959, President Dwight Eisenhower approved the new 49-star American flag design, with the 49th star for Alaska.
• In 1966, St. Michael's Greek-Russian Orthodox Church was destroyed by a fire that wiped out much of Sitka's business district.
• In 1969, an early morning fire destroyed the broadcast facilities and the record library of KIFW-AM in Sitka.
• In 1979, Sohio Petroleum was given the go-ahead to build a gravel island near Prudhoe Bay for a drilling pad. An injunction request, made by the city of Barrow and villages of Kaktovik and Nuisqut, was turned down. An Anchorage pilot and passenger landed safely near Stony River, Lake Clark Pass, when their Cessna ran out of gas and descended through clouds.
In the nation
• In 1788, Georgia became the fourth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
• In 1921, religious services were broadcast on radio for the first time as KDKA in Pittsburgh aired the regular Sunday service of the city's Calvary Episcopal Church.
• In 1929, the United States and Canada reached agreement on joint action to preserve Niagara Falls.
• In 1935, Bruno Hauptmann went on trial in Flemington, N.J., on charges of kidnapping and murdering the 20-month-old son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. (Hauptmann was found guilty, and executed.)
• In 1960, Sen. John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.
• In 1965, the New York Jets signed University of Alabama quarterback Joe Namath to a contract reportedly worth $427,000.