This Day in History

In Alaska

• Photos

• In 1947, based upon information from Siberian Eskimos who visited St. Lawrence Island, The Anchorage Times reported that the Soviet Union was building a secret military base on the Siberian coast.

• In 1949, the U.S. Air Force confirmed that Eielson Air Force Base would be used for training operations for B-36 bombers.

• In 1964, 11 Japanese companies began a three-week survey of the timber potential of Southcentral Alaska.

In the nation

• In 1777, the Congress of the United States - forced to flee in the face of advancing British forces - moved to York, Pa.

• In 1846, dentist William Morton used ether as an anesthetic for the first time on a patient in his Boston office.

• In 1927, Babe Ruth hit his 60th homer of the season to break his own major-league record.

• In 1954, the first atomic-powered vessel, the submarine "Nautilus," was commissioned by the Navy.