| On this date in: |
| 1859 |
French acrobat Blondin crossed Niagara Falls on a tightrope as 5,000 spectators watched. |
| 1908 |
An asteroid exploded above Tunguska in Siberia, leaving 800 square miles of scorched or blown-down trees. |
| 1917 |
Jazz singer Lena Horne was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. |
| 1921 |
President Warren G. Harding appointed former President William Howard Taft chief justice of the United States. |
| 1936 |
The novel “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell was published. |
| 1963 |
Pope Paul VI was crowned the 262nd head of the Roman Catholic Church. |
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| AP Photo |
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| 1971 |
The 26th Amendment to the Constitution, lowering the minimum voting age to 18, was ratified as Ohio became the 38th state to approve it. |
| 1971 |
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the government could not prevent The New York Times or the Washington Post from publishing the Pentagon Papers. |
| 1994 |
The U.S. Figure Skating Association stripped Tonya Harding of the national championship and banned her from the organization for life for an attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan. |
| 2001 |
Doctors implanted a dual-purpose pacemaker in Vice President Dick Cheney’s chest. |
| 2002 |
Brazil defeated Germany 2-0 in Yokohama, Japan for its record fifth World Cup title. |
| 2004 |
The international Cassini spacecraft entered Saturn’s orbit after a nearly seven-year journey. |
| 2005 |
Spain legalized gay marriage. |
