TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT March 1, 1790

President George Washington signed a measure authorizing the first United States Census.

ALSO ON THIS DATE

1565

The city of Rio de Janeiro was founded by Portuguese knight Estacio de Sa.

1781

The Continental Congress declared the Articles of Confederation to be in force, following ratification by Maryland.

1867

Nebraska became the 37th state as President Andrew Johnson signed a proclamation.

1893

Inventor Nikola Tesla first publicly demonstrated radio during a meeting of the National Electric Light Association in St. Louis by transmitting electromagnetic energy without wires.

1954

Four Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire from the spectators’ gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives, wounding five members of Congress. The United States detonated a dry-fuel hydrogen bomb, codenamed Castle Bravo, at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

1961

President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order establishing the Peace Corps.

1971

A bomb went off inside a men’s room at the U.S. Capitol; the radical group Weather Underground claimed responsibility for the pre-dawn blast.

2008

President George W. Bush, speaking at his Texas ranch, declined to promise more U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq before leaving, underscoring the need for a strong military presence during Iraqi provincial elections.