South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Today in history
In 1883 the United States and Canada adopted a unified system of Standard Time zones.
In 1903 the United States and Panama signed a treaty granting the U.S. rights to build the Panama Canal.
In 1928 the first successful sound-synchronized animated cartoon, Walt Disney’s “Steamboat Willie,” starring Mickey Mouse, premiered in New York.
In 1936 Germany and Italy recognized Gen. Francisco Franco’s government in Spain.
In 1959, “Ben-Hur,” the Biblical-era spectacle starring Charlton Heston, had its world premiere in New York.
In 1966 Roman Catholic leaders in the United States ended the church rule against eating meat on Fridays. In 1976 Spain’s parliament approved legislation to establish a democracy after 37 years of dictatorship.
In 1978 U.S. Rep. Leo Ryan and four other people were killed in Jonestown, Guyana, by members of the Peoples Temple; the killings were followed by a night of mass murder and suicide by 912 of the cult’s members.
In 1996 one-time CIA station chief Harold Nicholson was charged with selling top secrets to the Russians for more than $120,000. (Nicholson later pleaded guilty to espionage and was sentenced to 23 1⁄2 years in prison; he was spared a life sentence for cooperating with investigators.)
In 1998 House Republicans endorsed U.S. Rep. Bob Livingston, of Louisiana, to be their next speaker, succeeding Newt Gingrich. (Livingston later resigned from the House before he could take over the speakership after admitting to marital infidelities.)
In 1999, 12 people were killed when a bonfire under construction at Texas A&M University collapsed.
In 2001 Phillips Petroleum Co. and Conoco Inc. announced they were merging in a deal that created the third-largest U.S. oil and gas company.
In 2003 the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled 4-3 that the state constitution guaranteed gay couples the right to marry.
In 2004 Bill Clinton’s presidential library opened in Little Rock, Ark.; in attendance were President George W. Bush, former President George H.W. Bush and former President Jimmy Carter.
In 2007 a methane blast ripped through a coal mine in eastern Ukraine, killing 101 miners.