TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY is Saturday, March 22, 2014. On this day:

1457 - Gutenberg Bible became the first printed book.

1622 - Indians attacked a group of colonists in the James River area of Virginia. 347 residents were killed.

1719 - Frederick William abolished serfdom on crown property in Prussia.

1733 - Joseph Priestly invented carbonated water (seltzer).

1775 - Edmund Burke presented his 13 articles to the English parliament.

1888 - The English Football League was established.

1895 - Auguste and Louis Lumiere showed their first movie to an invited audience in Paris.

1897 - Edmund Barton heads a conference to discuss the proposed constitution for the Commonwealth of Australia.

1915 - A German zeppelin made a night raid on Paris railway stations.

1919 - The first international airline service was inaugurated on a weekly schedule between Paris and Brussels. 1935 - Persia was renamed Iran. 1942 - Nine Japanese aircraft bomb the town of Katherine in Australia’s Northern Territory.

1943 - The Dutch workweek was extended to 54 hours.

1945 - The Arab League was formed with the adoption of a charter in Cairo, Egypt.

1946 - The British granted Transjordan independence.

1946 - The first U.S. built rocket to leave the earth’s atmosphere reached a height of 50-miles.

1954 - The London gold market reopened for the first time since 1939.

1960 - A.L. Schawlow & C.H. Townes obtained a patent for the laser. It was the first patent for any laser.

1965 - U.S. confirmed that its troops used chemical warfare against the Vietcong.

1974 - The Viet Cong proposed a new truce with the U.S. and South Vietnam. The truce included general elections.

1977 - Indira Ghandi resigned as the prime minister of India.