Today in history

1815 Napoleon Bonaparte began his exile on the remote island of St. Helena in the Atlantic Ocean. 1847 “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte was first published in London.

1860 Grace Bedell, 11 years old, wrote a letter to presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln. The letter stated that Lincoln would look better if he would grow a beard.

1883 The U.S. Supreme Court struck down part of the Civil Rights Act of 1875. It allowed for individuals and corporations to discriminate based on race. 1892 The U.S. government announced that the land in the western Montana was open to settlers. The 1.8 million acres were bought from the Crow Indians for 50 cents per acre.

1914 - The Clayton Antitrust Act was passed by the U.S. Congress.

1931 “Cat and the Fiddle” opened in New York for the first of 395 performances.

1937 “To Have and Have Not” by Ernest Hemingway was published for the first time.

1939 New York Municipal Airport was dedicated. The name was later changed to La Guardia Airport. 1951 “I Love Lucy” premiered on CBS-TV.

1966 - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a bill creating the Department of Transportation. 1966 In Illinois, Cahokia Mounds was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

1966 The First Bank of the United States was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 1993 South Africa’s President F.W. de Klerk and African National Congress President Nelson Mandela were named winners of the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to end the apartheid system in South Africa.

2001 NASA’s Galileo spacecraft passed within 112 miles of Jupiter’s moon Io.

2011 Legoland Florida opened in Winter Haven, Florida.