This day in history - June 29

[seamusTX]

1767 - The British Parliament approved the Townshend Acts, imposing import duties on goods shipped to America. This was one of the early causes of unrest in the American colonies.

1776 - On the eve of independence, Virginia adopted a constitution, and Patrick Henry became governor.

1972 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the death penalty as it was practiced at the time cruel and unusual punishment. No executions took place in the U.S. from 1967 until 1977, after revised death penalty procedures went into effect.

1854 - The U.S. House of Representatives ratified the Gadsden Purchase, confirming the current southern border of Arizona and New Mexico.

1863 - The First National Bank opened in Davenport, Iowa. It was the first national bank in the U.S. chartered under a new federal law.

Before 1863, the U.S. currency and banking systems were a mess. The National Bank system stabilized paper currency and required a certain amount of deposits to be used to purchase U.S. government bonds. The system exists to this day, with modifications.

1916 - William E. Boeing test-flew his first airplane.

1949 - Most U.S. troops withdrew from Korea when the post-WW II occupation ended. The Russians were supposed to withdraw from North Korea at the same time. The Korean War broke out less than a year later, partly because the North perceived that the U.S. would not defend the South.

1956 - Pres. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, which established the interstate highway system. He had been advocating such a system since he returned from WW I in Germany, where he had experienced the efficiency of the Autobahn.

http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/summer96/p96su10.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

1962 - The British Vickers VC-10 long-range jet airliner made its first flight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_VC10" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Building a commercial jet airliner was a point of pride for the British government at the time, but its efforts did not produce commercial success.

- Jim

[longtooth]

1956 - Pres. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, which established the interstate highway system. He had been advocating such a system since he returned from WW I in Germany, where he had experienced the efficiency of the Autobahn.


Too bad our govt cant be as efficient.

[seamusTX]

The link to the federal history site died. Here are some that currently work:

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/history.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/faq.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Ai ... ct_of_1956" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also I incorrectly stated that Eisenhower saw the German Autobahn in WW I. Eisenhower was not overseas during WW I, and the Autobahn was not constructed until the 1930s

Eisenhower did in fact promote the idea of limited-access national highways since his earliest days in the military, in the WW I timeframe.

- Jim