Today in 1849, the first commercial laundry was established in Oakland, California.

Today in 1881, President James Garfield died in Elberon, New Jersey of gunshot wounds inflicted July 2nd by a disgruntled office-seeker. Vice President Chester Arthur was sworn in as his successor.

Today in 1959, Soviet Prime Minister Nikita Krushchev became angry when he was told that he couldn’t visit Disneyland in LA because of security problems. He was allowed to visit a movie set and an Iowa farm.

Today in1964, Randy Wicker, Jefferson Poland, and eight other members of the Sexual Freedom League, six of them straight, gathered outside the army's induction center at 39 Whitehall Street in New York City to protest the armed forces's anti-gay discrimination and complicity in witch hunts. Their voices were for the most part ignored that day, but we all know that in the end they won: the army's official discrimination against gay and lesbian members ended in 2011. While we're on the subject of Whitehall Street induction center, here's some bonus history: the location became so notorious during the Vietnam draft that it found its way into Arlo Guthrie's classic "Alice's Restaurant": "They got a building down New York City, it's called Whitehall Street/Where you walk in, you get injected, inspected, detected, infected/Neglected and selected." The center was such a symbol of military might that it became a target for an anti-war bombings in 1968 and 1969. The damage was minimal, but the center moved to Varick Street in 1972.

Today in 1975,the FBI arrested newspaper heiress Patti Hearst in San Francisco, 19 months after she’d been kidnapped and “brainwashed” by the Symbionese Liberation Army. She was charged with bank robbery and sentenced to 7 years in prison. She served only two, and was then pardoned by President Jimmy Carter.

Today in 1995, the “New York Times” and “Washington Post” published the Unabomber's manifesto.

Today in 1996, IBM announced it would extend health benefits to the partners of its gay and lesbian employees.

Today in 2008, Greg Maddux pitched his 5,000th career inning against San Francisco Giants.

Today in 2008, in its efforts to stave off financial catastrophe, the Bush administration laid out a radical bailout plan calling for a takeover of a half-trillion dollars or more in worthless mortgages and other bad debt held by tottering institutions. Relieved investors sent stocks soaring on Wall Street and around the globe.

Today in 2017, we got a new MLB record for most home runs in a season, no. 5,694 hit by Alex Gordon of the Kansas City Royals.

Today in 2017, President Donald Trump addressed the United Nations vowing to “totally destroy North Korea” if threatens the US.

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