TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT 1972

Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, who’d broken Major League Baseball’s modernera color barrier in 1947, died in Stamford, Connecticut, at age 53.

ALSO ON THIS DATE 1861

The first transcontinental telegraph message was sent by Chief Justice Stephen J. Field of California from San Francisco to President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C., over a line built by the Western Union Telegraph Co.

1931

The George Washington Bridge, connecting New York and New Jersey, was officially dedicated (it opened to traffic the next day).

1940

The 40-hour work week went into effect under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

1945

The United Nations officially came into existence as its charter took effect.

1952

Republican presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower declared in Detroit, “I shall go to Korea” as he promised to end the conflict. (He made the visit over a month later.)

1962

A naval quarantine of Cuba ordered by President John F. Kennedy went into effect during the missile crisis.

1992

The Toronto Blue Jays became the first non-U.S. team to win the World Series as they defeated the Atlanta Braves, 4-3, in Game 6.

2005

Civil rights icon Rosa Parks died in Detroit at age 92.

2018

Authorities said they had intercepted pipe bombs packed with shards of glass that had been sent to several prominent Democrats, including Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama; none of the bombs went off, and nobody was hurt.