Today in History

1686

Birth of Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, German physicist and maker of scientific instruments. He is best known for inventing the alcohol thermometer (1709) and mercury thermometer (1714) and for developing the Fahrenheit temperature scale.

1738

John Wesley is converted. While attending a Moravian meeting in Aldersgate St., London, Wesley experienced a religious awakening that profoundly convinced him that salvation was possible for every person through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Later, in his journal, Wesley reflected under this date: "I felt my heart strangely warmed...."

1819

Queen Victoria was born in London.

1830

The first passenger railroad in the United States began service between Baltimore and Elliott's Mills, Md.

1830

"Mary had a Little Lamb" by Sarah Hale is published as a poem. It was inspired by the story of Mary Sawyer, who actually did take her pet lamb to school where a commotion naturally ensued.

1844

Samuel F.B. Morse transmitted the message "What hath God wrought!" from Washington to Baltimore as he formally opened America's first telegraph line.

1862

A field telegraph was used for the first time in U.S. warfare. During the Civil War, an army general's headquarters near Williamsport, Va., was connected by wire to an advance guard several miles away at Mechanicsville, Va.

1878

Birth of Lillian Evelyn Gilbreth, American efficiency expert, who as wife of Frank Bunker Gilbreth, contracting engineer, together developed the method of time-and-motion study. The Gilbreths' goal was to find the "one best way" to do each task. The Gilbreths' theories and methods also were famously and sometimes humorously tested in their own home, including the decision to have several of their children's tonsils removed simultaneously for efficiency's sake. The story of the Gilbreth family is told in the book and movie "Cheaper by the Dozen" written by two of the Gilbreths' twelve children, Frank Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth.

1883

The Brooklyn Bridge, linking Brooklyn and Manhattan, was opened to traffic.

1935

The first major-league baseball game played at night took place at Cincinnati's Crosley Field as the Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1.

1941

The German battleship Bismarck sank the British dreadnought Hood in the North Atlantic during World War II.

1962

Astronaut Scott Carpenter became the second American to orbit the Earth as he flew aboard Aurora 7.

1976

Britain and France opened trans-Atlantic Concorde service to Washington.

1992

Al Unser Jr. became the first second-generation winner of the Indianapolis 500.

1994

Four men convicted of bombing New York's World Trade Center in 1993 were each sentenced to 240 years in prison.

2000

Israeli troops pulled out of southern Lebanon, ending 18 years of occupation.