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Events

• First train crossed Niagara Railway Suspension bridge – 1855
• Confederate ironclad frigate Virginia (formerly Merrimack) sunk Union ship Cumberland at Hampton Roads, Virginia (U.S. Civil War) – 1862
• Everett Horton patented a fishing rod with telescoping metal tubes – 1887
• The first state dog licensing law in the United States was passed in New York state – 1894
• Yankee slugger Babe Ruth signed an $80,000 per year (2-year, $160,000) contract – 1930
• U.S. Supreme Court ruled in McCollum v. Board of Education that religious instruction in public schools is unconstitutional – 1948
• Whirlwind I’s Director, precursor to computer operating system, demonstrated – 1955
• First U.S. ground combat troops arrived in Vietnam – 1965
• First year free for students from Newfoundland at Memorial University, N.L. – 1965
• Joe Frazier defeated Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight boxing championship in New York – 1971
• Meteorites fell in northeastern China, with the largest fragment, weighing about 3,902 pounds, falling in Jilin Province. – 1976
• Daily artillery barrages between Christian and Syrian forces and their militia allies began in Beirut. At least 930 died before cease-fire took hold in September – 1989
• Wheeled suitcase with collapsible towing handle patented – 1994
• The body of actor-writer Spalding Gray was pulled from New York’s East River, two months after he walked out of his Manhattan apartment and disappeared – 2004