This Day in History

In Alaska

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• In 1907, fire destroyed Cleary's business section.

• In 1910, the Cape Hinchinbrook light station was placed in service at the entrance to Prince William Sound.

• In 1917, the halibut steamer Manhattan wrecked near Lituya Bay in Southeast Alaska.

• In 1949, Cecil Moore left Fairbanks to begin a 5,000-mile trek by dogsled to Lewiston, Mo. He was hoping to take about 120 days.

• In 1979, 100 mph winds lashed Anchorage, knocking down trees, flipping airplanes and damaging buildings.

In the nation

• In 1777, the Second Continental Congress approved the Articles of Confederation, a precursor to the Constitution of the United States.

• In 1806, explorer Zebulon Pike sighted the mountaintop now known as Pikes Peak in present-day Colorado.

• In 1926, the National Broadcasting Co. debuted as a radio network.

• In 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.