TODAY IN HISTORY

1912

Magician Harry Houdini first publicly performed his “Water Torture

Cell” trick at the Circus Busch in Berlin.

1961

The first Boeing CH47 Chinook military helicopter made its first hovering flight.

1981

The Senate unanimously confirmed the nomination of Sandra Day O’Connor to become the first female justice on the Supreme Court.

1985

In North Korea and South Korea, family members who had been separated for decades were allowed to visit each other as both countries opened their borders in an unprecedented familyreunion program.

1989

Hurricane Hugo crashed into Charleston, South Carolina. Twenty-one students in Alton,

Texas, died when their school bus, hit by a soft-drink delivery truck, careened into a waterfilled pit.

1996

President Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act denying federal recognition of same-sex marriages, a day after saying the law should not be used as an excuse for discrimination, violence or intimidation against gays and lesbians.