July 6th, 2008

Today in History

1919:
The British dirigible R-34 lands in New York, completing the first crossing of the Atlantic by an airship.

1887:
David Kalakaua, monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, is forced at gunpoint, at the hands of Americans, to sign the Bayonet Constitution giving Americans more power in Hawaii while stripping Hawaiian citizens of their rights.

1885:
Louis Pasteur successfully tests his vaccine against rabies. The patient is Joseph Meister, a boy who was bitten by a rabid dog.

1854:
In Jackson, Michigan, the first convention of the U.S. Republican Party is held.

1785:
The dollar is unanimously chosen as the monetary unit for the United States.