TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – DEC 10
1520 Martin Luther publicly burns papal edict demanding he recant
1684 Isaac Newton’s derivation of Kepler’s laws from his theory of gravity, contained in the paper De motu corporum in gyrum, is read to the Royal Society by Edmond Halley
1817 Mississippi is admitted as the 20th state.
1861 Kentucky is admitted to the Confederate States of America.
1862 The U.S. House of Representatives passes a bill creating the state of West Virginia.
1869 Governor John Campbell signs the bill that grants women in Wyoming Territory the right to vote as well as hold public office.
1898 Spanish-American War formally ended by the Treaty of Paris; US acquires Philippines, Puerto Rico & Guam
1906 U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt became the first American to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, for helping mediate an end to the Russo-Japanese War.
1915 10,000,000th model T Ford assembled
1936 Edward VIII signs Instrument of Abdication, giving up the British throne to marry American divoree Wallis Simpson
1943 Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill that postpones a draft of pre-Pearl Harbor fathers.
1948 The United Nations General Assembly adopted its Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
1949 150,000 French troops mass at the border in Vietnam to prevent a Chinese invasion.
1953 Hugh Hefner published the first “Playboy” magazine with an investment of $7,600.
1978 President of Egypt Anwar Sadat and Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1985 Bill to balance the federal budget passed by Congress
1992 Oregon Senator Bob Packwood apologized for what he called “unwelcome and offensive” actions toward women. However, he refused to resign.
1999 Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee was arrested and charged with stealing classified information.
2003 The U.S. Supreme Court upheld new restrictions on political advertising in the weeks before an election. The court did strike down two provisions of the new law that involved a ban on political contibutions from those too young to vote and a limitation on some party spending. (McConnell v. FEC, 02-1674)
2007 Argentina swears in first female elected President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
