Today in History

The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase distressed assets of financial corporations and supply cash directly to banks to keep them afloat.

Former pro football star and actor O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, ending what many called “the Trial of the Century.”.

Battle of Mogadishu, in which 18 US soldiers and some 1,000 Somalis are killed during an attempt to capture officials of the warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid’s organization.

After 40 years of division, East and West Germany are reunited as one nation.

Art Shell becomes the first African American to coach a professional football team, the Los Angeles Raiders.

The Space Shuttle Atlantis makes its maiden flight.

A violent coup in Honduras ends a period of political reform and ushers in two decades of military rule.

Two children’s television programs and a family sitcom all destined to become classics debut: Captain Kangaroo, Mickey Mouse Club, and The Dick Van Dyke Show.

Al Sharpton, African-American minister, civil rights activist, TV and radio talk show host; unsuccessful candidate for Democratic nomination for the US presidency in 2004.

The UK successfully conducts a nuclear weapon, becoming the world’s third nuclear power

A “shot is heard around the world” when New York Giants outfielder Bobby Thomson hits a home run in the bottom of the ninth inning, beating the Brooklyn Dodgers to win the National League pennant.

German troops evacuate Athens, Greece.

Germany conducts the first successful test flight of a V-2 missile, which flies perfectly over a 118-mile course.

Chubby Checker (Ernest Evans), singer, songwriter who popularized the dance The Twist; Billboard magazine ranked “The Twist” as the most popular single in its Hot 100 since the list’s debut in 1958.

U.S. Army adopts airborne, or parachute, soldiers. Airborne troops were later used in World War II for landing troops in combat and infiltrating agents into enemy territory.

Eddie Cochran, influential rock ‘n’ roll pioneer (“Summertime Blues”).

Charles “Charlie” Duke, the youngest astronaut to walk on the moon (1972); retired from US Air Force as a brigadier general.

The comic strip Dick Tracy first appears in the New York News.

The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes officially changes its name to Yugoslavia.

Gore Vidal, writer (“Myra Breckinridge,” “Burr,” “Lincoln”); one of the screenwriters on the movie Ben Hur (1959).

James Herriot, Yorkshire veterinarian and author of All Creatures Great and Small.

The first conference on wireless telegraphy in Berlin adopts SOS as warning signal.

Thomas Wolfe, American novelist (Look Homeward Angel) not to be confused with American novelist Tom Wolfe (The Right Stuff).

John L. Routt, the Colorado Territory governor, is elected the first state governor of Colorado in the Centennial year of the U.S.

Captain Jack and three other Modoc Indians are hanged in Oregon for the murder of General Edward Canby.

At the Battle of Corinth, in Mississippi, a Union army defeats the Confederates.

George Bancroft, historian, known as the “Father of American History” for his 10-volume A History of the United States.

Congress borrows five million dollars to halt the rapid depreciation of paper money in the colonies.

Russia signs a treaty with the Turks, ending a three-year conflict between the two countries.