This Day In History

Nearly 50 years after the first negotiations took place, the United States purchased the Danish West Indies from Denmark, later renaming them the US Virgin Islands. The US again entered into talks with the Danish and the treaty was signed on August 4, 1916.

On August 3, 1795, the United States and a group of Native American tribes (known as the Northwestern Confederacy) signed the Treaty of Greenville, establishing the boundary between American and Native American territory.

On August 2, 1943, future president John F. Kennedy saved the majority of his PT-109 crew after a Japanese destroyer rammed them.

On August 1, 1876, President Ulysses S. Grant signed legislation admitting Colorado to the Union as the Centennial State (it was admitted 28 days after the 100th anniversary of the United States).

On July 24, 1911, Hiram Bingham became one of the first Americans to explore the Inca ruins at Machu Picchu. Relatively unknown to the outside world at the time, his expedition brought it international attention, changing our understanding of ancient civilizations in South America.

On July 23, 1867, the United States opened its first post office in Alaska— months before the US formally took possession of the territory.  While Alaska’s official transfer was still being prepared, the US was already laying down its presence—and the post office was a powerful symbol of that.

Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin was born on July 8, 1838, in Konstanz, Grand Duchy of Baden (now part of Germany). He developed the airships that bear his name and would later travel the world.

On June 29, 1995, the US Space Shuttle Atlantis docked the Russian space station Mir for the first time. The mission, STS-71, was the third in the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir program. It began on June 27, 1995, when the Atlantis launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This was the 100th US human space launch from Cape Canaveral.

On August 5, 1914, the first electric traffic light was installed in Cleveland, Ohio. It was considered revolutionary at the time, and was soon followed by similar systems in cities around the country.

On August 5, 1864, Admiral David Farragut led a successful naval attack that led to a Union victory at Mobile Bay, Alabama. Though the important city of Mobile remained part of the Confederacy, Mobile Bay was in Union hands and closed to blockade-runners.

On August 5, 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt signed legislation creating the National Cancer Institute.  The institute researches cures and treatments for cancer and is the oldest and largest institute of the National Institutes of Health.

On August 5, 1964, the US launched Operation Pierce Arrow in response to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. The operation marked the start of US air operations over North Vietnam.