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Edgar Allan Poe is born
This day in History: 1809 - Poet, author and literary critic Edgar Allan Poe is born in Boston, Massachusetts . By the time he was three years old, his father had abandoned the family and his mother had died, leaving him in the care of his godfather John Allan, a wealthy tobacco merchant. After attending school in England, Poe entered the University of Virginia in 1826. After fighting with Allan over his heavy gambling debts, he was forced to leave school after only eight m
First gorilla born in captivity
This day in History: 1956 - A baby gorilla named Colo enters the world at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio , becoming the first-ever gorilla born in captivity. Weighing in at approximately 4 pounds, Colo, a western lowland gorilla whose name was a combination of Columbus and Ohio, was the daughter of Millie and Mac, two gorillas captured in French Cameroon, Africa, who were brought to the Columbus Zoo in 1951. Before Colo’s birth, gorillas found at zoos were caught in the wild, ofte
U.S. declares an end to the War in Iraq
This day in History: 2011 - In a ceremony held in Baghdad on December 15, 2011, the war that began in 2003 with the American-led invasion of Iraq officially comes to an end . But violence continued and in fact worsened over the subsequent years. The withdrawal of American troops had been a priority of President Barack Obama , but by the time he left office the United States would again be conducting military operations in Iraq. Five days after the 9/11 attacks , President Ge
John Lennon shot
This day in History: 1980 - John Lennon, a former member of the Beatles , the rock group that transformed popular music in the 1960s , is shot and killed by an obsessed fan in New York City . The 40-year-old artist was entering his luxury Manhattan apartment building when Mark David Chapman shot him four times at close range with a .38-caliber revolver. Lennon, bleeding profusely, was rushed to the hospital but died en route. Chapman had received an autograph from Lennon ear
Rosa Parks ignites bus boycott
This day in History: 1955 - In Montgomery, Alabama Rosa Parks is jailed for refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man, a violation of the city’s racial segregation laws. The successful Montgomery Bus Boycott , organized by a young Baptist minister named Martin Luther King Jr. , followed Park’s historic act of civil disobedience. “The mother of the civil rights movement,” as Rosa Parks is known, was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1913. She worked as a seamst
“Origin of Species” is published
This day in History: 1859 - On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, a groundbreaking scientific work by British naturalist Charles Darwin, is published in England on November 24, 1859. Darwin’s theory argued that organisms gradually evolve through a process he called “natural selection.” In natural selection, organisms with genetic variations that suit their environment tend to propagate more descendants than organisms of the same species that lack the variat
White House cornerstone laid
This day in History: 1792 - The cornerstone is laid for a presidential residence in the newly designated capital city of Washington, D.C . In 1800, President John Adams became the first president to reside in the executive mansion, which soon became known as the “White House” because its white-gray Virginia freestone contrasted strikingly with the red brick of nearby buildings. The city of Washington was created to replace Philadelphia as the nation’s capital because of its
Cyanide-laced Tylenol kills first three of seven victims
This day in History: 1982 - Three Chicago area residents become ill and die after ingesting Extra-Strength Tylenol later found to be...
Elvis Presley makes first appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show”
This day in History: 1956 - The King of Rock and Roll teams up with TV’s reigning variety program, as Elvis Presley appears on “The Ed...
Paris is liberated after four years of Nazi occupation
This day in History: 1944 - After more than four years of Nazi occupation, Paris is liberated by the French 2nd Armored Division and the...
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