This Day in History
In Alaska
• In 1835, Robert Kennicott, naturalist and explorer, was born.
• In 1909, W.D. Wheeler of Fairbanks narrowly escaped death when an 18-pound crowbar fell from a second story window in a government warehouse.
• In 1943, a fire in downtown Fairbanks caused more than $50,000 in damage.
• In 1954, a spokesman from Standard Oil Company told an All-Alaska Chamber of Commerce meeting that Alaska's oil development prospects were very good.
In the nation
• In 1775, during the American Revolution, U.S. forces captured Montreal.
• In 1789, Benjamin Franklin wrote in a letter to a friend, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."
• In 1927, the Holland Tunnel opened to the public, providing access between New York City and New Jersey beneath the Hudson River.
• In 1942, the minimum draft age was lowered from 21 to 18.
• In 1956, the Supreme Court struck down laws calling for racial segregation on public buses.
• In 1971, the U.S. space probe Mariner Nine went into orbit around Mars.
• In 1977, the comic strip "Li'l Abner" by Al Capp appeared in newspapers for the last time.
• In 1974, Karen Silkwood, a technician and union activist at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron plutonium plant near Crescent, Okla., died in a car crash while on her way to meet a reporter.
• In 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington.
• In 1995, seven people, including five Americans, were killed when a bomb exploded at a military training facility in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The government braced for imminent partial shutdown as President Clinton vetoed one budget bill and prepared to reject another in a fiscal standoff with Republicans.
• In 2000, lawyers for George W. Bush failed to win a court order barring manual recounts of ballots in Florida. Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris announced she would end the recounting at 5 p.m. Eastern time the next day - prompting an immediate appeal by lawyers for Al Gore.