| On this date in: |
| 1473 |
The astronomer Copernicus was born in Torun, Poland. |
| 1878 |
Thomas Edison received a patent for his phonograph. |
| 1881 |
Kansas became the first state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages. |
| 1945 |
Some 30,000 U.S. Marines landed on Iwo Jima and began a month-long battle to seize control of the island from Japanese forces during World War II. |
| 1959 |
An agreement was signed by Britain, Turkey and Greece granting Cyprus its independence. |
| 1963 |
“The Feminine Mystique” by Betty Friedan was published. |
| 1997 |
Deng Xiaoping, the last of China’s major Communist revolutionaries, died in Beijing at age 92. |
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| AP Photo |
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| 2004 |
Former Enron Corp. chief executive Jeffrey Skilling was charged with fraud, insider trading and other crimes in connection with the energy trader’s collapse. |
| 2007 |
New Jersey became the third state to offer civil unions to gay couples. |
| 2008 |
An ailing Fidel Castro resigned the Cuban presidency after nearly a half-century in power. |
| 2010 |
Golfer Tiger Woods admitted infidelity and acknowledged receiving therapy. |
| 2010 |
The FBI concluded that Army scientist Bruce Ivins acted alone in the 2001 anthrax mailings that killed five people, and formally closed the case. |
