Parliament repealed the Stamp Act. (1766) The Stamp Act had been wildly unpopular in the US, causing riots and a boycott on British goods. Even after the act was repealed, the idea of taxation without representation remained a sore spot between the two countries.
The first spacewalk took place. (1965) Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov performed the first spacewalk on this day. He stayed outside his ship for 12 minutes, held to the ship by a tether. By the time his walk was over, his spacesuit had inflated so much in the vacuum of space that he could barely get back inside the ship.
Mohandas Gandhi was sentenced to prison. (1922) Gandhi was arrested for sedition because of his acts of non-cooperation, which included encouraging Indians to only purchase Indian goods. Though he was sentenced to six years in prison, he only served two before being released for an appendicitis operation.
A human-powered airplane flew for about half a mile. (1936) The Pedaliante was the first human-powered airplane to fly. The plane was built like a glider, but powered by a bicycle-like apparatus.
The War Relocation Authority was established in the US. (1942) The purpose of the Authority was to forcibly relocate all people of Japanese descent in the US to internment camps. Hundreds of thousands of people were relocated, though in 1990, they were all issued a formal apology from the US along with monetary compensation.
France and Algeria signed the Evian Accord. (1962) France and the leaders of the Front de Liberation Nationale (FLN) signed the Evian Accord today, ending more than seven years of fighting and 130 years of French colonial rule in Algeria.
Schick Inc. marketed its first electric razor. (1931) The razor was a bulky Bakelite product that cost $25 US Dollars (USD), the equivalent of about $350 USD in 21st century dollars.
Irving Berlin copyrighted “Alexander’s Ragtime Band.” (1911) The song was the first pop culture hit, and sold over 1.5 million copies of its sheet music within 18 months of its publication.
Wells Fargo and Company was established. (1852) The company went on to become the leading freight and courier company in the newly developed American West. Though the company’s role in transport was undermined with the completion of the transcontinental railroad, it kept going strong in banking.
Nationalist Chinese forces invaded Mainland China. (1950) The Communist party in China had only been in power for less than a year when Nationalist forces from Taiwan made a surprise attack on Southern China. Though the attack had the support of the US, it eventually failed, and merely served to increase tensions between the US and the People’s Republic of China.