Today:
1721: Peter the Great was proclaimed Emperor of all the Russias.
1783: U.S. General George Washington delivered his “Farewell Address to the Army.”
1795: The French Directory, a five-man revolutionary government, was established.
1889: North Dakota and South Dakota were admitted as the 39th and 40th U.S. states.
1917: The Balfour Declaration was issued, stating British support for a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.
1920: KDKA in Pittsburgh, PA, began broadcasting as the first commercial radio station in the United States.
1930: Haile Selassie was crowned Emperor of Ethiopia.
1936: The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) launched the world’s first regular high-definition television service.
1947: Howard Hughes piloted the H-4 Hercules, also known as the “Spruce Goose,” on its first and only flight.
1948: Harry S. Truman won the U.S. presidential election, defeating Thomas E. Dewey in a major upset.