Today In History

In 1862: Union forces were defeated by the Confederates at the Second Battle of Bull Run in Manassas, Va.

In 1901: Hubert Booth patented the vacuum cleaner. He had watched a dustblowing machine and decided he could reverse the procedure.

In 1967: The U.S. Senate confirmed Thurgood Marshall as the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1983: Guion S. Bluford Jr. became the first black American astronaut to travel in space, blasting off aboard on the Challenger.