| On this date in: |
| 1907 |
Oklahoma became the 46th state. |
| 1933 |
The United States and the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations. |
| 1959 |
The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “The Sound of Music” opened on Broadway. |
| 1961 |
House Speaker Sam Rayburn, D-Texas, died at age 79. |
| 1966 |
Dr. Samuel H. Sheppard was acquitted in his second trial on charges of murdering his pregnant wife, Marilyn, in 1954. |
| 1973 |
Skylab 4, with three astronauts on board, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on an 84-day mission. |
| 1973 |
President Richard M. Nixon signed the Alaska Pipeline measure into law. |
| 1982 |
An agreement was announced in the 57th day of a strike by National Football League players. |
| 1988 |
Estonia’s parliament declared the Baltic republic sovereign. |
| 1995 |
Attorney General Janet Reno disclosed that she had Parkinson’s disease. |
| 2001 |
Congress passed a law mandating that airport screeners be federal employees. |
| 2004 |
President George W. Bush picked National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to be secretary of state, succeeding Colin Powell. |
| 2010 |
U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel was convicted on 11 of 13 charges related to financial misconduct, prompting fellow lawmakers to censure the 80-year-old New York Democrat. |
| 2010 |
The engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton was announced in London. |
| 2010 |
President Barack Obama presented the Medal of Honor to Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, the first living service member from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars to receive the nation’s top military award. |
