The Dred Scott decision was made, Bayer patented aspirin, the Rosenberg trial began, the Zapruder film was shown on TV, the periodic table was presented, the first dental institute opened, Walter Cronkite signed off for the last time, Marines were sent to Vietnam, and Michelangelo was born.
The Dred Scott sentence has been handed down. (1857) The United States Supreme Court ruled that a slave, Dred Scott, could not sue for his freedom even if his master brought him into a “free” state. The decision was hugely influential in shaping slavery legislation and deeply undermined the platform of the Republican Party, led by Abraham Lincoln.
Bayer’s proprietary aspirin. (1899) Friedrich Bayer and Co. patented the now popular painkiller in Berlin on this day. Aspirin’s main ingredient, acetylsalicylic acid, had been used since ancient times, although Bayer’s company was the first to offer it in a convenient and stable pill form. It quickly gained popularity and was once the most widely used pain reliever in the world.
The Rosenberg trial begins. (1951) Julius and Ethel Rosenberg accused of selling nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. Although there was little direct evidence, the Rosenbergs were convicted and eventually executed.
The Zapruder film was shown on TV for the first time. (1975) The Zapruder film was a home movie of the Kennedy assassination. Deemed too graphic to originally show, it was first shown on the network this day on the show Good Night America, where it shocked viewers and led to a renewed investigation into the assassination.
The periodic table was presented to the public for the first time. (1869) Dmitri Mendeleev presented the first periodic table to the Russian Chemical Society and predicted the addition of three more elements in the near future. Mendeleev’s predictions were right, and he is credited with writing the first periodic table.
The first dental institute opens. (1840) The Baltimore College of Dental Surgery opened on this day after being chartered by the Maryland General Assembly. It was the first place to offer the DDS certification that all American dentists now have.
Walter Cronkite signed on for the last time on the news. (1981) Cronkite was a mainstay of the news industry and a fixture in many American homes. He presented the CBS Evening News for 19 years and covered such historic events as the Nuremberg trials, the first moon landing, the Kennedy assassination and the Watergate scandal.
The White House confirmed it was sending Marines to Vietnam. (1965) A government announcement confirmed that two battalions of marines have been sent to Da Nang to work at the air base. It was the beginning of more than ten years of US involvement in Vietnam.
The Missouri Compromise was signed into law. (1850) Compromise was a turning point in American history, as it determined that all added states below a certain latitude would be “slave”, while those above would be “free”. It was thrown together to try to hold the already fragile union together for a few more years, but it fell apart in the civil war.
Michelangelo was born. (1475) On this day in the small village of Caprese Michelangelo Buonarroti was born, one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance. He revolutionized Western painting and sculpture and is known for his sculpture David, Pietà and his mural on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, among other things.
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