| On this date in: |
| 1883 |
The United States and Canada adopted a system of standard time zones. |
| 1886 |
Chester A. Arthur, the 21st president of the United States, died in New York at age 56. |
| 1923 |
Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr., the first American in space, was born in East Derry, N.H. |
| 1928 |
The first successful sound-synchronized animated cartoon, Walt Disney’s “Steamboat Willie” starring Mickey Mouse, premiered in New York. |
| 1936 |
Germany and Italy recognized the Spanish government of Francisco Franco. |
| 1966 |
U.S. Roman Catholic bishops did away with the rule against eating meat on Fridays. |
| 1969 |
Financier and diplomat Joseph P. Kennedy died in Hyannis Port, Mass., at age 81. |
| 1976 |
Spain’s parliament approved a bill to establish a democracy after 37 years of dictatorship. |
| 1987 |
The congressional Iran-Contra committees issued their final report, saying President Ronald Reagan bore “ultimate responsibility” for wrongdoing by his aides. |
| 1988 |
President Ronald Reagan signed legislation creating a Cabinet-level drug czar and providing the death penalty for drug traffickers who kill. |
| 2002 |
U.N. arms inspectors returned to Iraq after a four-year hiatus, calling on Saddam Hussein’s government to cooperate with their search for weapons of mass destruction. |
| 2003 |
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled 4-3 that the state constitution guarantees gay couples the right to marry. |
| 2006 |
Actor Tom Cruise and actress Katie Holmes were married in Italy. (The couple divorced in 2012.) |
| 2009 |
Two days before turning 92, Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., became the longest-serving lawmaker in congressional history, at 56 years, 320 days. |
