This day in history

1587: Virginia Dare becomes the first child of English parents to be born on American soil on what is now Roanoke Island in North Carolina.

1838: The first marine expedition sponsored by the U.S. government sets sail from Hampton Roads, Va. The crews travel the southern Pacific Ocean and gather scientific information.

1846: U.S. forces led by Gen. Stephen W. Kearny capture Santa Fe, N.M.

1894: Congress establishes the Bureau of Immigration.

1920: The 19th Amendment, which gives women the right to vote, is ratified as Tennessee becomes the 36th state to approve it.


1958: The novel “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov is first published in New York by G.P. Putnam's Sons almost three years after it was originally published in Paris.


1969: The Woodstock Music & Art Fair in Bethel, N.Y., which had fallen behind schedule, finally winds down after three nights with a morning set performed by Jimi Hendrix.

1976: Two U.S. Army officers are killed in Korea's demilitarized zone as a group of North Korean soldiers wielding axes and metal pikes attacks U.S. and South Korean soldiers.

1983: Hurricane Alicia slams into the Texas coast, leaving 21 dead and causing more than $1 billion in damage.

1999: A day after a deadly earthquake struck western Turkey, survivors denounce the rescue effort as sluggish and disorganized. The death toll eventually tops 17,000.

2004: At the Athens Olympic Games, American Paul Hamm wins the men's gymnastics all-around Olympic gold medal by the closest margin ever in the event. Controversy follows after it is discovered that a scoring error cost Yang Tae-young of South Korea the title.

2008: Pervez Musharraf resigns as president of Pakistan.

SOURCE: The Associated Press



