Highlights in history

• In 1781, Los Angeles was founded by Spanish settlers under the leadership of Governor Felipe de Neve.

• In 1888, George Eastman received a patent for his roll-film box camera, and registered his trademark: “Kodak.”

• In 1944, during World War II, British troops liberated Antwerp, Belgium.

• In 1957, Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus used Arkansas National Guardsmen to prevent nine Black students from entering all-white Central High School in Little Rock.

• In 1957, Ford Motor Co. began selling its ill-fated Edsel.

• In 1962, the Beatles, with new drummer Ringo Starr, recorded “Love Me Do” at EMI Studios in London. (The more familiar version, with substitute drummer Andy White and Starr on tambourine, was recorded a week later.)

• In 1969, the Food and Drug Administration issued a report calling birth control pills “safe,” despite a slight risk of fatal blood-clotting disorders linked to the pills.

• In 1998, Internet services company Google filed for incorporation in California.

• In 2006, “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin, 44, died after a stingray’s barb pierced his chest.

• In 2014, comedian Joan Rivers died at a New York hospital at age 81, a week after going into cardiac arrest in a doctor’s office during a routine medical procedure.

• In 2018, Amazon became the second publicly-traded company to reach $1 trillion in market value, following closely behind Apple (which reached $2 trillion on Aug. 19, 2020, doubling in value in just over two years).