On March 16th...

1521 Ferdinand Magellan reached the Philippines.

1641 The Rhode Island General Court declared Rhode Island a democracy and adopted a new constitution.

1751 James Madison, 4th President of the United States, was born.

1802 The United States Military Academy was established at West Point, New York.

1829 Ohio authorized high school night classes.

1830 The New York Stock Exchange recorded its slowest day ever (31 shares traded).

1836 Texas approved a constitution.

1847 Physicist Georg S. Ohm was born.

1861 Arizona Territory voted to cede from the Union.
1861 The Confederate States of America appointed commissioners to Britain.

1862 The U.S. Senate ratified the treaty establishing the Red Cross.

1912 Mrs. William Howard Taft planted the first cherry tree in Washington, D.C.

1926 Robert H. Goddard launched the world's first liquid-fueled rocket.

1927 U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan was born.

1966 Astronauts Neil Armstrong and David Scott successfully docked their Gemini spacecraft with another orbiting craft; it was the first such successful maneuver in the U.S. space program.

1978 Actor "Reb" Russell died.

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This page was last updated on 06/02/2011.