TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON: SEPT 22
1656 The General Provincial Court in session at Patuxent, Maryland, impanels the first all-woman jury in the Colonies to hear evidence against Judith Catchpole, who is accused of murdering her child. The jury acquits her after hearing her defense of never having been pregnant.
1692 Last people hanged for witchcraft (8) in the US, 19 hanged overall, with six other deaths during Salem Witch Trials
1711 The Tuscarora Indian War begins with a massacre of settlers in North Carolina, following white encroachment that included the enslaving of Indian children.
1776 American Captain Nathan Hale is hanged as a spy by the British in New York City; his last words are reputed to have been, “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.”
1789 Congress authorized the office of Postmaster-General.
1862 U.S. President Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. It stated that all slaves held within rebel states would be free as of January 1, 1863.
1893 Bicycle makers Charles and Frank Duryea show off the first American automobile produced for sale to the public by taking it on a maiden run through the streets of Springfield, Massachusetts.
1915 Xavier University, the first African-American Catholic college, opens in New Orleans, Louisiana.
1919 Steel strike begins in US
1918 General Allenby leads the British army against the Turks, taking Haifa and Nazareth, Palestine.
1927 In Chicago, IL, Gene Tunney successfully defended his heavyweight boxing title against Jack Dempsey in the famous “long-count” fight.
1955 Commercial television began in Great Britain. The rules said that only six minutes of ads were allowed each hour and there was no Sunday morning TV permitted.
1961 President John Kennedy signs a congressional act establishing the Peace Corps.
1965 India and Pakistan cease-fire goes into effect, ending the Indo-Pakistani War
1970 President Richard M. Nixon signs a bill giving the District of Columbia representation in the U.S. Congress.
1970 Pres Nixon requests 1,000 new FBI agents for college campuses
1975 Sara Jane Moore attempts to assassinate US President Gerald Ford, the second attempt on his life in less than three weeks.
1975 World Football League folds
1980 The Iran-Iraq War begins as Iraq invades Iran; lasting until August 1988, it was the longest conventional war of the 20th century.
1998 The U.S. and Russia signed two agreements. One was to privatize Russia’s nuclear program and the other was to stop plutonium stockpiles and nuclear scientists from leaving the country.
2011 CERN scientists announce their discovery of neutrinos breaking the speed of light
REFERENCE: HISTORY.NET, ONTHISDAY.COM, TIMEANDDATE.COM, INFOPLEASE.COM, FACTMONSTER.COM, SCOPESYS.COM, ON-THIS-DAY.COM, THEPEOPLEHISTORY.COM
