This day in history

55 B.C.: Roman forces under Julius Caesar invade Britain, but achieve limited success.

1883: The island volcano Krakatoa begins cataclysmic eruptions, leading to a massive explosion the following day.

1920: The 19th Amendment, which guarantees women the right to vote, is certified in effect by Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby.

1939: The first televised major-league baseball games are shown on experimental station W2XBS: a doubleheader between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. (The Reds won the first game, 5-2; the Dodgers took the second, 6-1.)

1958: Alaskans vote in favor of statehood.

1961: The original Hockey Hall of Fame opens in Toronto.

1964: President Lyndon B. Johnson is nominated for a term of office in his own right at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, N.J.

1968: The Democratic National Convention opens in Chicago.

1972: The Summer Olympic Games open in Munich, West Germany.

1978: Cardinal Albino Luciani of Venice is elected the 264th pope after the death of Pope Paul VI. The new pontiff takes the name Pope John Paul I.

1986: In the “Preppie Murder Case,” 18-year-old Jennifer Levin is found strangled in New York's Central Park. (Robert Chambers later pleads guilty to manslaughter and serves 15 years in prison.)

2004: The nation's supply of vaccine for the impending flu season takes a big hit when Chiron Corp. announces that it has found tainted doses at its factory and will hold up shipment of about 50 million shots.

SOURCE: Associated Press



