December 5th, 2008

Today in History

1958:
Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the UK by the Queen when she dials a call from Bristol to Edinburgh and speaks to the Lord Provost. http://www.bt.com/archives/history/19461959.htm#1958

1941:
The nonfiction book Sea of Cortez by John Steinbeck is published (Steinbeck used knowledge gained writing this book to develop the marine biologist character Doc in Cannery Row).

1936:
The Soviet Union adopts a new constitution.

1933:
Prohibition ends: Utah becomes the 36th U.S. state to ratify the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution, thus establishing the required 3/4th of states needed to enact the amendment (this overturned the 18th Amendment which had outlawed alcohol in the United States).

1766:
In London, James Christie holds his first sale (he later founded Christie's, the world's oldest auction house).