December 5th, 2008

Today in History

1955:
The trade unions American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations decide to merge and form the AFL-CIO.

1934:
Italian troops attack Wal Wal in Ethiopia (it took four days to capture the city).

1932:
German physicist Albert Einstein granted a visa

1848:
California gold rush: In a message before the U.S. Congress, US President James K. Polk confirms that large amounts of gold had been discovered in California.

1776:
At the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, the Phi Beta Kappa is founded as the first scholastic fraternity in the United States.