Today In History

In 1789: North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

In 1877: Inventor Thomas A. Edison announced the invention of his phonograph.

In 1922: Rebecca L. Felton of Georgia was sworn in as the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate.

In 1942: the Alaska highway across Canada was formally opened.

In 1969: The Senate voted down the nomination of Clement F. Haynsworth to the Supreme Court, the first time since 1930 that a candidate for the nation’s highest court was rejected.

In 1973: President Nixon’s attorney, J. Fred Buzhardt, revealed the existence of an 18-minute gap in one of the White House tape recordings related to Watergate.

In 1995: The Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 5,000 mark for the first time.