Today In History

In 1647:Massachusetts staged the first recorded American execution of a “witch.” In 1679: Britian passed the Habeas Corpus Act, requiring that prisoners must be brought before a court.

In 1818: Amelia Jenks Bloomer was born in Homer, N.Y. She campaigned for more comfortable clothes for women, including a garment that took her name - bloomers.

In 1933: Walt Disney released the animated short “The Three Little Pigs.”

In 1937: The newly completed Golden Gate Bridge connecting San Francisco and Marin County, Calif., was opened to the public.

In 1941: The German battleship Bismarck sank off France, with a loss of 2,300 lives.

In 1985: In a brief ceremony in Beijing, representatives of Britain and China exchanged instruments of ratification on the pact returning Hong Kong to the Chinese in 1997.