The Missouri Compromise passed in 1820, Garry Kasparov beat the Deep Blue supercomputer in 1996, Thomas Jefferson had a peaceful transfer of power in 1801, HL Hunley sank a ship in 1864, the Voice of America started broadcasting in Russia in 1947, the Volkswagen Beetle became the best-selling car in 1972, Madame Butterfly debuted in 1904, China invaded Vietnam in 1979, Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced to life in prison in 1992, and Geronimo died in 1909.
The Missouri Compromise passed. (1820) This piece of legislation was designed to address the question of whether new states joining the United States would be free or slave states. Each side of the slavery issue wanted to make sure the other didn’t gain the upper hand by having more states, so the Missouri Compromise was crafted and made sure that all states above a certain latitude were free states, while all below they would have been slaves.
World chess champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer. (1996) The world was shocked a few days earlier with Kasparov losing his first match of a tournament against Deep Blue. By winning the last match of the tournament on this day, Kasparov won the tournament and Deep Blue withdrew.
The United States had its first peaceful transfer of power between political parties. (1801) Thomas Jefferson was elected on this day by tiebreaker to the House of Representatives after he and Aaron Burr tied votes in the Electoral College. The House chose Jefferson, a Democrat-Republican – as opposed to former federalist president John Adams – just two weeks before his inauguration.
HL Hunley became the first submarine to sink a ship. (1864) Hunley sank USS Housatonic, a Union ship which was on blockading duty. The submarine had a history of sinking itself: before shooting down the Housatonic, she had sunk twice, killing members of her crew, and shortly after this day, the Hunley sank again, this time for good.
The Voice of America has started broadcasting in Russia. (1947) The VOA was a major propaganda campaign against the USSR and broadcast news about America, American politics and most importantly American music which is what made it popular.
The Volkswagen Beetle has become the best-selling car. (1972) The 15,007,034th Beetle was made on this day, beating out the Model T as the world’s best-selling car after four decades. The car was originally designed to be Aryan Germany’s car, but found popularity in the United States after the end of World War II. He has become an icon of the hippie movement and even experienced a renaissance with the New Beetle in 1998.
“Madame Butterfly” debuted. (1904) Giacomo Puccini’s famous opera had its world premiere at La Scala theater in Milan on this day. The work was booed at its premiere, leading Puccini to make massive revisions before releasing it again four months later to rave reviews.
China has invaded Vietnam. (1979) Although China and Vietnam had been friendly in the Vietnam War, tensions quickly escalated after it ended. Vietnam sought to establish a military force in Southeast Asia and strengthened its relationship with China’s rival USSR. China responded by invading Vietnam but was defeated within 9 days.
Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced to 15 life sentences. (1992) Dahmer was a serial killer known for his particularly nasty dealings with the bodies of those he killed. He was charged with the murders of 17 men and boys and received a total of 957 years in prison, although he was beaten to death two years later by another inmate.
Geronimo is dead. (1909) Geronimo was a prominent Apache leader and led many raids and battles against US forces. He eventually died of pneumonia after a fall from a horse left him stranded outside for the night.
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