Today in History

1620		Leaders of the Mayflower expedition frame the "Mayflower Compact," designed to bolster unity among the settlers.
1783		Jean de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes make the first free-flight ascent in a balloon to over 500 feet in Paris.
1789		North Carolina ratifies the Constitution, becoming the 12th state to do it.
1855		Franklin Colman, a pro-slavery Missourian, guns down Charles Dow, a Free Stater from Ohio, near Lawrence, Kansas.
1864		From Georgia, Confederate General John B. Hood launches the Franklin-Nashville Campaign into Tennessee.
1904		Motorized omnibuses replace horse-drawn cars in Paris.
1906		In San Juan, President Theodore Roosevelt pledges citizenship for Puerto Rican people.
1907		Cunard liner Mauritania sets a new speed record for steamship travel, 624 nautical miles in a one day run.
1911		Suffragettes storm Parliament in London. All are arrested and all choose prison terms.
1917		German ace Rudolf von Eschwege is killed over Macedonia when he attacks a booby-trapped observation balloon packed with explosives.
1918		The last German troops leave Alsace-Lorraine, France.
1927		Police turn machine guns on striking Colorado mine workers, killing five and wounding 20.
1934		A New York court rules Gloria Vanderbilt unfit for custody of her daughter.
1934		Cole Porter's musical Anything Goes premieres at New York's Alvin Theatre.
1949		The United Nations grants Libya its independence by 1952.
1967		President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the air quality act, allotting $428 million for the fight against pollution.
1970		U.S. planes conduct widespread bombing raids in North Vietnam.
1986		The Justice Department begins an inquiry into the National Security Council into what will become known as the Iran-Contra scandal.