this day in history

Devils Tower National Monument is celebrating its birthday today and, not only that; it's also celebrating the fact that it was the country's very first national monument.

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history: 1862 – Congress abolishes slavery in US territories, nullifying the Dred Scott Case (More info) 1910 – The first Father’s Day is celebrated in Spokane, Washington (More info)

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history: 1898 – China agrees to lease Hong Kong to Britain for 99 years (More info) 1934 – Donald Duck makes his debut in ‘The Wise Little Hen’ (More info)

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history: 1776 – Richard Henry Lee introduces a resolution proposing a Declaration of Independence (More info) 1892 – Homer Plessy is arrested for refusing to leave his seat in the “whites-only” car of a train, leading to the landmark Plessy v. Ferguson court case (More info)

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history: 1790 – Rhode Island becomes the last of the original US colonies to ratify the Constitution and is admitted as the 13th state (More info) 1942 – Bing Crosby records Irving Berlin’s ‘White Christmas,’ the best-selling Christmas single in history (More info)

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history: 1513 – Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León first sights land in what is now Florida (More info) 1917 – President Woodrow Wilson asks the US Congress for a declaration of war on Germany (More info)

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history: 1866 – President Andrew Johnson vetoes a civil rights bill which later becomes the 14th Amendment (More info) 1912 – Japanese cherry trees are planted along the Potomac, giving rise to the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC (More info)

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history: 1852 – Harriet Beecher Stowe’s ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ is published (More info) 1854 – Members of the Whig Party splinter off into a new group they call the Republican Party (More info)

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history: 1920 – The United States Senate rejects the Treaty of Versailles for the second time (More info) 1931 – The Nevada legislature legalizes gambling in an attempt to lift the state out of the hard times caused by the Great Depression (More info)

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history: 1770 – Five Americans are killed by British troops in an event that would later become known as the Boston Massacre (More info) 1872 – George Westinghouse patents the air brake (More info)

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history: 1896 – The Tootsie Roll is introduced (More info) 1927 – President Calvin Coolidge signs a bill establishing the Federal Radio Commission — later the Federal Communications Commission — which regulated the use of US radio frequencies (More info)

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history: 1819 – By the Adams-Onís Treaty, Spain sells Florida to the United States for $5 million (More info) 1879 – In Utica, New York, Frank Woolworth opens the first of many of five-and-dime Woolworth stores (More info)