This day in history

Some notable historical events that happened today include:

 

1789 -  Congress created the Treasury Department, over a year after the US Constitution was ratified. President George Washington placed Alexander Hamilton in charge as Secretary of Treasury 

 

1901 -  Vice President Theodore Roosevelt quoted the West African proverb "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far" at the Minnesota State Fair while laying out his foreign policy. It became known as "Big Stick diplomacy" which he applied during his Presidency. He won the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize

 

1912 -  The Boy Scouts of America honored their first Eagle Scout with a medal ceremony. Arthur Eldred earned 21 merit badges on his journey to Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts highest honor

 

1931 -  Bing Crosby made his solo radio debut in his series "15 Minutes with Bing Crosby"

 

1936 -  aviators Dieudonné Costes and Maurice Bellonte completed the first   non-stop transatlantic flight by plane 8n their Breguet Br. 19 TF Super Bidon named Point d'Interrogation (Question Mark). Their journey began in Paris, France and ended at Long Island, NY

 

1940 -  the Great Smoky Mountains joined the National Park System

 

1945 -  the surrender of Japan to the Allied Forces became official, ending WWII

 

1969 -  Chemical Bank in Rockville Center, NY installed the first Automatic Teller Machine 

 

1974 -  President Gerald Ford signed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The law guarantees pension rights and creates tax rules for employee benefits and contributions 

 

1988 -  the Baseball film Eight Men Out debut starring John Cusack, Christopher Lloyd and Charlie Sheen.  It re-tells the story of the 1919 Chicago White Sox team and the players accused of accepting money to throw the series

 

1993 -  decades of space competition came to an end when the US and Russia agreed to build a space station

 

Some interesting birthdays include:

 

Lucretia Hale (1820)

Albert Spalding (1850)

Romare Bearden (1911)

Arnold Greenberg (1932) - launched the Snapple Beverage Corp. The original name in 1972 was Unadulterated Food Products, however they changed it after one of their failed products

Glenna Sue Kidd (1933)

C. Wilson Markle Jr. (1938) - credited with inventing the film colonization process. It was patented in 1987 under US Patent No. 4710805

Christa McAuliffe (1948) - in 1985 she was picked as an Astronaut for the NASA Teacher in Space Project. She and 6 other crew members perished in 1986 when the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight

Jimmy Connors (1952)

Guy Laliberté (1959) - co-founder of Cirque du Soleil which debuted in 1984

Keanu Reeves (1964)

Salma Hayek (1966)

William Hanson (1989) - author of 2 etiquette books, he has become the modern equivalent of Miss Manners