This Day in History
In Alaska
• In 1869, the Fort Wrangell Post Office was established.
• In 1904, the first telegraph message was sent between Sitka and Valdez via the new submarine cable.
• In 1959, 100,000 pounds of reindeer meat from Nunivak Island was in transit to markets in New York City, Washington D.C. and Hawaii.
• In 1959, George Byer was elected mayor of Anchorage.
• In 1979, the Dena'ina people of Kenai celebrated their first potlatch in 70 years. More than 300 people came. Potlatches were stopped by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1907.
In the nation
• In 1884, the Naval War College was established in Newport, R.I.
• In 1927, the era of talking pictures arrived with the opening of "The Jazz Singer," a movie starring Al Jolson that featured both silent and talking scenes.
• In 1949, President Truman signed the Mutual Defense Assistance Act, totaling $1.3 billion in military aid to NATO countries.
• In 1949, American-born Iva Toguri D'Aquino, convicted of being Japanese wartime broadcaster "Tokyo Rose," was sentenced in San Francisco to 10 years in prison and fined $10,000.
• In 1976, in his second debate with Jimmy Carter, President Ford asserted there was "no Soviet domination of eastern Europe." Ford later conceded he'd misspoken.
• In 1983, Cardinal Terence Cooke, the spiritual head of the Archdiocese of New York, died at age 62.
• In 1993, basketball superstar Michael Jordan announced his retirement. Jordan attempted a minor-league baseball career, but returned to the Chicago Bulls in March 1995.
• In 1998, with a House vote set on launching an open-ended impeachment inquiry, Democrats rushed to counter Republican plans while still underscoring their disapproval of President Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky.
In the world
• In 1889, the Moulin Rouge in Paris first opened its doors to the public.
• In 1939, in an address to the Reichstag, Adolf Hitler denied having any intention of war against France and Britain.