Today in 1792, James Swan personally paid off the entire U.S. National Debt. Of course, back then, the National Debt was only a little over two-million bucks (about $28-million today).
Today in 1922, Johnny Weissmuller, who later became famous for his screen portrayal of “Tarzan”, became the first man to swim 100-meters in under a minute. How fast was he? Weissmuller swam the distance in 58.6-seconds.
Today in 1962, the U.S. detonated a 1.25-megaton atomic bomb 250 miles above the Pacific Ocean. Code-named “Starfish Prime,” it was the first major nuclear explosion in space and caused three orbiting satellites to malfunction. The flash could be seen for 1000 miles.
Today in 1996, the National League won the All-Star game, defeating the American League 6-to-0 in Philadelphia.
Today in 1997, boxer Mike Tyson was banned from the ring and fined $3 million for biting the ear of his opponent Evander Holyfield.
Today in 1999, a jury in Los Angeles ordered General Motors Corporation to pay $4.9 billion to six people severely burned when their Chevrolet Malibu exploded in flames in a rear-end collision.
Today in 2000, Venus Williams beat Lindsay Davenport 6-3, 7-6 (3) for her first Grand Slam title, becoming the first black women's champion at Wimbledon since Althea Gibson in 1957-58.
Today in 2000, top-seeded Pete Sampras won his seventh Wimbledon title as he defeated Patrick Rafter, 6-7 (10), 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-2.
Today in 2017, CEO Elon Musk became the first owner of Telsa's first mass market electric car - the Model 3.
Today in 2018, President Donald Trump names Brett Kavanaugh as his Supreme Court nominee