The Red Baron shot down his first aircraft in 1916, becoming a German fighter pilot during World War I. The US Constitution was signed in 1787, and the bloodiest battle in US history took place in 1862. NASA unveiled its first space shuttle in 1976, and the world’s first mass-produced amphibious car drove across the English Channel in 1965. M*A*S*H debuted in 1972, and Australians saw their first telecast in 1956. Vanessa Williams and Heather Whitestone became the first women of color and deafness to win the Miss America crown in 1983 and 1994, respectively.
The Red Baron shot down his first aircraft. (1916) Manfred von Richthofen was a fighter pilot for the German Army during World War I. For the last eight months of his flying career, he flew a bright red Fokker triplane, after which he got his nickname. He was killed at the age of 25 when he was shot down while flying near the River Somme; he had shot down more than 80 enemy aircraft by the time of his death.
The US Constitution was signed and ratification was awaited. (1787) At the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention, 38 of 41 delegates signed their endorsement. The document therefore needed to be ratified by at least nine of the 13 U.S. states before it could go into effect. The US Constitution became the foundation of US government on March 4, 1789.
The bloodiest battle in US history took place. (1862) A Civil War battle at Antietam in which Union soldiers fought off a Confederate Army invasion of Maryland left more than 23,000 soldiers captured, wounded or dead.
A judge in California has set a record for dismissing cases. (1884) In Oakland, California, Judge Allen ruled 13 cases in six minutes. All were likely guilty verdicts, as at that time only about 1 in 100 cases in Oakland courts ended in an acquittal.
NASA unveiled its first space shuttle. (1976) Enterprise was first seen by the public in Palmdale, California. The shuttle, which cost nearly 10 billion US dollars (USD), has never flown in space. Its mission was to test the Earth’s atmosphere. It flew its final mission on October 26, 1977 and is now on display at the Smithsonian Institution.
The world’s first mass-produced amphibious car ‘drove’ across the English Channel. (1965) Four men from England traveled by car from London to Germany to attend the Frankfurt Motor Show. The journey took about seven hours. The “Amphicars” were quite popular: About 3,000 were shipped to the United States; some even remain on the road today.
After the longest blackout since the Great Depression, trading on the New York Stock Exchange has resumed. (2001) The Dow saw its largest one-day decline in history following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. Trading on Wall Street ceased for four days after dropping nearly 700 points.
The US TV show M*A*S*H debuted. (1972) M*A*S*H continued until February 28, 1983, when its finale became the most-watched television show in US history: nearly 106 million people watched the 2.5-hour special episode. The record stood until 2010, when Super Bowl XLIV drew 106.5 million fans.
Australians saw their first telecast. (1956) Broadcasting experiments began in Melbourne, Australia in 1929, but it was not until 1956 that widespread television broadcasting was achieved. The first regular television broadcasts in the United States, the first country in the world to have regular broadcasts, began in 1928.
The first woman of color and the first woman of deafness won the Miss America crown. (1983 & 1994) The first black Miss America was Vanessa Williams; the first deaf woman to win the crown, Heather Whitestone, was from Alabama.
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