1776: The first public reading of the Declaration of Independance occurs in Philadelphia.
1804: Vice President Aaron Burr kills Secretary of the treasury Alexander Hamilton in a duel.
1854: The U.S. Republican Party holds it's first convention.
1865: The children's story "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" is published.
1874: The first U.S. zoo opens in Philadelphia.
1885: Louis Pasteur successfully tests his rabies vaccine on a boy bitten by a rabid dog.
1904:Charles E. Menches of St. Louis reportedly invents the ice cream cone, though some dispute
his claim.
1914: Babe Ruth takes the field at Fenway Park in hjis first major league baseball game.
1923:The famous Hollywood sign is dedicated in the hills above Los Angeles.
It first read "Hollywoodland," but the lat four letter were removed in 1949.
1937: Hormel Foods Corp. introduces Spam, the luncheon meat, to the world
1946:The bikini debuts during a runway show in Paris. A year later, Americans are
wearing the skimpy swimsuit.
1955: Disneyland opens with more than 28,000 people visiting the first day and 90 million
watching on television.
1963: ZIP codes are introduced in the United States to speed up the transit of mail.
1976: The Viking 1 lands on Mars and takes its first picture of the red planet.
1997: The restored U.S.S. Constitution ("Old Ironsides")sails again after 116 years.