On this date
In 1911, the notorious Hope Diamond was sold by jeweler Pierre Cartier to socialites Edward and Evalyn McLean of Washington, D.C., for $180,000.
In 1915, the American merchant vessel SS William P. Frye, en route to England with a cargo of wheat, became the first U.S. ship to be sunk during World War I by a German cruiser, the SS Prinz Eitel Friedrich, even though the United States was not at war.
In 1916, Louis D. Brandeis was nominated by President Woodrow Wilson to the Supreme Court; Brandeis became the court’s first Jewish member.
In 1956, Elvis Presley made his first national TV appearance on “Stage Show,” a CBS program hosted by Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey.
In 1973, a cease-fire officially went into effect in the Vietnam War, a day after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords by the United States, North Vietnam and South Vietnam.
In 1977, actor-comedian Freddie Prinze, 22, co-star of the NBC-TV show “Chico and the Man,” shot and mortally wounded himself at the Beverly Comstock Hotel (he died the following day).
In 1980, six U.S. diplomats who had avoided being taken hostage at their embassy in Tehran flew out of Iran with the help of Canadian diplomats. Ten years ago: Major world powers opened talks in London seeking an end to the conflict in Afghanistan. Five years ago: At a farewell ceremony for Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama called Hagel, a Republican, a true American patriot who devoted his life to the United States. One year ago: A U.S. envoy said negotiators for the United States and Taliban insurgents had reached “agreements in principle” on key issues for a peace deal that would end 17 years of war in Afghanistan.