This Day in History

In Alaska

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• In 1914, the Akutan post office was established with Hugh McGlasham as postmaster.

• In 1926, the post office of Port Alexander, on Baranof Island in Southeast Alaska, was established with Dorothy M. Stoddard as postmaster.

• In 1962, drilling began on an exploratory offshore Richfield oil well connected to shore by a 2,300-foot causeway in Wide Bay, 150 miles west of Kodiak - a first in Alaska oil exploration.

In the nation

• In 1769, Dartmouth College in New Hampshire received its charter.

• In 1862, Union forces suffered a major defeat to the Confederates at the Battle of Fredericksburg.

• In 1928, George Gershwin's musical work "An American in Paris" had its premiere, at Carnegie Hall in New York.