World Events Today
- Although the sale of Alaska, by Russia to the United States, was agreed in March, the formal transfer did not take place until today in 1867, it remains a public holiday in Alaska
- The American gangster Al Capone was convicted on 3 counts of tax evasion today in 1931, he was later sentenced to 11 years in prison
- The Circus Circus Hotel in Las Vegas opened today in 1968, it is the largest permanent big top in the world
Entertainment Events Today
- The novel Moby-Dick, by the American writer Herman Melville, was published today in 1851 in the United Kingdom
- The first mass produced transistor radio, the Regency TR-1 by Texas Instruments, was announced today in 1954
- The Walt Disney animated musical comedy movie The Jungle Book, based on the book by Rudyard Kipling, was released today in 1967
Family Events Today
- The American inventor Thomas Edison, developer of many things we now take for granted, such as the motion picture camera and the long-lasting electric light bulb, died today in 1931 aged 84
- Lee Harvey Oswald, the American Marxist and former US Marine who assassinated the United States President John F Kennedy in November 1963, was born today in 1939 in New Orleans
- The Czechoslovakian tennis player Martina Navratilova, considered one of the best female tennis players of all time, was born today in 1956 in Prague
Main Event Today
- The British Broadcasting Corporation, the BBC, was founded today in 1922
National Day Today
- Today, it’s National Chocolate Cupcake Day