In 1853: Cincinnati became the first U.S. city to pay its firefighters a regular salary.

In 1873: Composer Sergei Rachmaninoff was born in Novgorod Province, Russia.

In 1918: The Royal Air Force was established in Britain.

In 1933: Nazi Germany began persecuting Jews with a boycott of Jewish-owned businesses.

In 1945: American forces invaded Okinawa during World War II.

In 1946: Tidal waves struck the Hawaiian islands, resulting in more than 170 deaths.

In 1963: The daytime television drama “General Hospital” premiered on ABC.

In 1970: President Nixon signed a measure banning cigarette advertising on radio and television, to take effect after Jan. 1, 1971.

In 1987: In his first major speech on the AIDS epidemic, President Reagan told doctors in Philadelphia, “We’ve declared AIDS public health enemy number one.” xxxx?