| On this date in: |
| 1693 |
A charter was granted for the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va. |
| 1837 |
The Senate selected Richard Mentor Johnson of Kentucky as vice president after no candidate received a majority of electoral votes. |
| 1904 |
The Russo-Japanese War began. |
| 1910 |
The Boy Scouts of America was incorporated. |
| 1915 |
D.W. Griffith’s silent movie epic about the Civil War, “The Birth of a Nation,” premiered in Los Angeles. |
| 1922 |
President Warren G. Harding had a radio installed in the White House. |
| 1924 |
The first execution by gas in the United States took place at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City. |
| 1968 |
Three college students died in a confrontation with highway patrolmen in Orangeburg, S.C., during a civil rights protest against a whites-only bowling alley. |
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| AP Photo |
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| 1971 |
NASDAQ, the world’s first electronic stock exchange, held its first trading day. |
| 1993 |
General Motors sued NBC, alleging that the program “Dateline NBC” had rigged two crashes to show that GM pickups were prone to fires. (NBC settled the lawsuit the following day.) |
| 1999 |
The Senate heard closing arguments in President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial. |
| 2007 |
Model and tabloid sensation Anna Nicole Smith died at age 39 of an accidental drug overdose. |
| 2010 |
Michael Jackson’s personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of the pop superstar in Los Angeles Superior Court. (Murray was convicted and sentenced to four years in jail.) |
