This Day in History
In Alaska
• In 1903, The B.M. Behrends Mercantile Company was incorporated in Juneau.
• In 1959, Phil Holdsworth, then Commissioner of Natural Resources said "We'll flood the Bureau of Land Management with applications in the next 6 months," as the state increased the pace of acquiring the 104 million acres of land granted by the Statehood Act.
• In 1974, Jay S. Hammond took office as the fifth Governor of the State of Alaska. (He was later elected to a second term.)
• In 1980, The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act was signed into law by President Jimmy Carter.
In the nation
• In 1927, Ford Motor Co. unveiled its Model A automobile, the successor to its Model T.
• In 1954, the Senate voted to condemn Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, a Wisconsin Republican, for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute."
• In 1997, Attorney General Janet Reno declined to seek an independent counsel investigation of telephone fund-raising by President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, concluding they did not violate election laws, in a decision that drew jeers from Republicans.
• In 2001, In one of the largest corporate bankruptcies in U.S. history, Enron filed for Chapter 11 protection.
In the world
• In 1804, Napoleon was crowned emperor of France.
• In 1980, four American church women were raped and murdered outside San Salvador, El Salvador. (Five national guardsmen were convicted in the killings.)
• In 1991, American hostage Joseph Cicippio, held captive in Lebanon for more than five years, was released.