Today in history

On March 3,

1791, Congress passed the nation’s first tax law, which imposed a levy on spirits distilled in the United States.

In 1845 Florida became the 27th state.

In 1849 the Home Department, forerunner of the Interior Department, was established. Also in 1849, Congress created the Minnesota Territory.

In 1875 the Georges Bizet opera “Carmen” premiered in Paris.

In 1879 Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood became the first woman to be admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1887 Anne Mansfield Sullivan arrived at the Alabama home of Capt. and Mrs. Arthur Keller to become the teacher of their blind and deaf 6-year-old daughter, Helen.

In 1918 Germany, Austria and Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which ended Russian participation in World War I.

In 1931 “The Star-Spangled Banner” officially became the national anthem of the United States.

In 1959 comedian Lou Costello died in Los Angeles, three days short of his 51st birthday.

In 1969 Apollo 9 blasted off from Cape Kennedy on a mission to test the lunar module.

In 1974 nearly 350 people died when a Turkish Airlines DC-10 crashed shortly after takeoff from Orly Airport in Paris.

In 1985 coal miners in Britain voted to end a yearlong strike that proved to be the longest and most violent walkout in British history.

In 1991 in a case that sparked a national outcry, motorist Rodney King was severely beaten by Los Angeles police officers in a scene captured on amateur video.

In 2005 millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett became the first person to fly around the world alone without stopping or refueling, touching down in central Kansas after a 67-hour, 23,000-mile journey.