November 21st, 2008

Today in History

2002:
NATO invites Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to become members.

1985:
United States Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Jay Pollard is arrested for spying (he was caught giving Israel classified information on Arab nations and was eventually sentenced to life in prison).

1969:
US President Richard Nixon and Japanese Premier Eisaku Sato agree in Washington, DC on the return of Okinawa to Japanese control in 1972. Under terms of the agreement, the US is to retain its rights to bases on the island, but these are to be nuclear-free.

1877:
Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a machine that can record sound (this is considered to be Edison's first great invention).

1789:
North Carolina ratifies the United States Constitution and is admitted as the 12th U.S. state.