| On this date in: |
| 1761 |
Britain’s King George III and his wife, Charlotte, were crowned in Westminster Abbey. |
| 1776 |
Nathan Hale was hanged as a spy by the British during the Revolutionary War. |
| 1792 |
The first French Republic was proclaimed. |
| 1862 |
President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all slaves in rebel states free as of Jan. 1, 1863. |
| 1927 |
Gene Tunney successfully defended his heavyweight boxing title against Jack Dempsey in the “long count” fight in Chicago. |
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| AP Photo |
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| 1949 |
The Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb. |
| 1964 |
The musical “Fiddler on the Roof” opened on Broadway, beginning a run of 3,242 performances. |
| 1969 |
Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants hit his 600th career home run during a game in San Diego. |
| 1975 |
Sara Jane Moore failed in an attempt to shoot President Gerald R. Ford outside a San Francisco hotel. |
| 1989 |
Songwriter Irving Berlin died at age 101. |
| 1995 |
Time Warner struck a $7.5 billion deal to buy Turner Broadcasting System Inc. |
| 2004 |
“Lost” premiered on ABC. |
| 2005 |
John Roberts’ nomination as chief justice cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 13-5 vote. |
| 2008 |
The U.S. Mint unveiled the first changes to the penny in 50 years, with Abraham Lincoln’s portrait still on the front, but new designs replacing the Lincoln Memorial on the back. |
