On This Day…

1861 – The first transcontinental telegram was sent via the telegraph in the United States, effectively bringing to an end the Pony Express.

1945 – The charter for the United Nations—the world’s premier international organization, established at the end of World War II to maintain world peace and friendly relations among nations—entered into force this day in 1945.

1979 – Guinness Book of Records presents Paul McCartney with a rhodium disc as all-time best selling singer-songwriter.

2008 – “Bloody Friday” saw many of the world’s stock exchanges experienced the worst declines in their history, with drops of around 10% in most indices.

2005 African American civil rights activist Rosa Parks—whose refusal to relinquish her seat on a public bus to a white man in 1955 helped ignite the American civil rights movement—died at age 92.

2017 – Albert Einstein’s “Theory of Happiness”, written as a note for a bellboy instead of a tip in Tokyo in 1922 sells for $1.56 million

Via Britannica / On This Day