TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT 2020

The U.S. reported its first known case of the new virus circulating in China, saying a Washington state resident who had returned the previous week from the outbreak’s epicenter was hospitalized near Seattle; U.S. officials stressed that they believed the overall risk of the virus to the American public remained low.

1793

During the French Revolution, King Louis XVI, condemned for treason, was executed on the guillotine.

1915

The first Kiwanis Club, dedicated to community service, was founded in Detroit.

1924

Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin died at age 53.

1942

Pinball machines were banned in New York City after a court ruled they were gambling devices that relied on chance rather than skill.

1954 1976

British Airways and Air France inaugurated scheduled passenger service on the supersonic Concorde jet.

1977 1997

Speaker Newt Gingrich was reprimanded and fined as the House voted for the first time in history to discipline its leader for ethical misconduct.

2003

The Census Bureau announced that Hispanics had surpassed blacks as America’s largest minority group.

2010

A bitterly divided U.S. Supreme Court, in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, vastly increased the power of big business and labor unions to influence government decisions by freeing them to spend their millions directly to sway elections for president and Congress. Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards finally admitted fathering a daughter during an affair before his second White House bid.