This Week in History – Totally Stolen from Joe W’s email

Events of this week in history:

In 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced a resolution for independence to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia; John Adams seconded the motion.

In 1913, Hudson Stuck, an Alaskan missionary, led the first successful ascent of Mt. McKinley, the highest point on the American continent at 20,320 feet.

In 1942, the Battle of Midway–one of the most decisive U.S. victories in its war against Japan–ended. In the four-day sea and air battle, the outnumbered U.S. Pacific Fleet succeeded in destroying four Japanese aircraft carriers with the loss of only one of its own, the Yorktown, thus reversing the tide against the previously invincible Japanese navy.

In 1962, the banking institution Credit Suisse–then known as Schweizerische Kreditanstalt (SKA)–opened the first drive-through bank in Switzerland.

In 1833, in Ellicott’s Mills, Maryland, President Andrew Jackson boarded a Baltimore & Ohio Railroad train for a pleasure trip to Baltimore, becoming the first president to take a ride on the “Iron Horse,” as locomotives were known then.

In 1933, eager motorists parked their automobiles on the grounds of Park-In Theaters, the first-ever drive-in movie theater, located on Crescent Boulevard in Camden, New Jersey.

In 1944, the Allied powers crossed the English Channel and landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, beginning the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi control during World War II – known as D-Day.

In 1971, The Ed Sullivan Show — the variety show that was the premiere television showcase for entertainers of all stripes, including borscht-belt comedians, plate-spinning vaudeville throwbacks and some of the biggest and most current names in rock and roll — had its final broadcast.

In 1933, the United States went off the gold standard, a monetary system in which currency is backed by gold, when Congress enacted a joint resolution nullifying the right of creditors to demand payment in gold.

In 1968, Senator Robert Kennedy was shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles after winning the California presidential primary.

In 2004, Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, died after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.

In 1865, Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of Confederate forces west of the Mississippi, signed the surrender terms offered by Union negotiators. With Smith’s surrender, the last Confederate army ceased to exist, bringing a formal end to the bloodiest four years in U.S. history.

In 1886, in an intimate ceremony held in the Blue Room of the White House, President Grover Cleveland married Frances Folsom, the daughter of Cleveland’s late law partner and friend, Oscar Folsom. Fewer than 40 people were present to witness the 49-year-old president exchange vows with Frances, who at 21 years of age became the youngest first lady in U.S. history.

In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge signed the Indian Citizen Act, granting automatic American citizenship to Native Americans born in the United States.

In 1935, Babe Ruth ended his Major League playing career after 22 seasons, 10 World Series and 714 home runs.

In 1954, Senator Joseph McCarthy charged that communists have infiltrated the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the atomic weapons industry.

In 1962, Ray Charles’ “I Can’t Stop Loving You” topped the U.S. pop charts.

A picture’s worth a thousand words:

Two weekends to build a Leaning Tower of Pisa from Jenga blocks; someone from the Guinness Book of World Records coming to visit; and one reporter destroys it all. – – – Go to http://youtu.be/LINXivt-bkY.

In Chicago, Illinois, this accident by a Lamborghini is baffling. – – – Go to http://youtu.be/a0Ve2eNfgPQ.

The person in this mug shot took the phrase “say cheese” a little too far. –

And now it’s time for FRIDAY FILES!

– – – In Houston, Texas, a patrol officer was dispatched to the scene of a call about a woman sleeping in her car, said Kese Smith, an HPD spokesman. Smith said when the officer arrived the woman was found asleep in the car behind the wheel and the engine was running. A witness told the officer the woman had come into a tattoo parlor to get a piercing but was refused because she appeared to be drunk. The woman left and the witness said that’s when a one-year-old child was seen inside the car. Smith said the woman was pregnant.

– – – In Sylvan Beach, New York, a 17-year-old-girl asked police for help unlocking her car. Just moments later, police were dispatched to a Cinderella’s Restaurant where an employee reported that two men and two women had eaten and left without paying. When police arrived at the scene they discovered the girl who had just requested help standing by her car along with another woman and two men. Police say all four individuals gave conflicting reasons as to why the left the restaurant without paying. They were charged with theft of services and issued appearance tickets.

– – – In South Florida, Jack Wiseman, a wounded war veteran, was participating in an annual fishing tournament when a fish pulled too hard on his reel and popped out his prosthetic arm. Luckily, another fisherman hooked the exact same fish later on, and returned the prosthetic limb to Wiseman.

– – – In Chicago, Illinois, a student at Northwestern University was walking at night when one man in a group approaching him shouted “Yo!” Three men approached him and demanded his money. The student told the three men that he didn’t think it was a good idea to rob him while they were standing in front of the university police station. The three men fled, and they are still at large.

– – – In Missoula, Montana, the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office is looking for two men who stole a 1976 Ford Pinto from a person’s backyard — a Pinto that didn’t run – and had four flat tires. A neighbor told police he saw two young men loading the car into a white flatbed pickup truck.

– – – In DesMoines, Iowa, someone called police to report a person lying in the street or alley. Officer Brian Cuppy responded to the call, but did not see the woman lying in the alley until his car ran over her legs.