历史上的今天:08月18日

Today's Highlight in History:
On August 18th, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify¹ the 19th Amendment² to the Constitution, which guaranteed the right of all American women to vote.
On this date:
In 1227, the Mongol conqueror³ Genghis Khan died.

In 1587, Virginia Dare became the first child of English parents to be born on American soil, on what is now Roanoke Island, North Carolina.

In 1846, US forces led by General Stephen W. Kearney captured Santa Fe, New Mexico.

In 1894, Congress established the Bureau of Immigration.

In 1914, President Wilson issued his "Proclamation of Neutrality," aimed at keeping the United States out of World War One.

In 1938, President Roosevelt dedicated⁴ the Thousand Islands Bridge connecting the United States and Canada.

In 1963, James Meredith became the first black to graduate from the University of Mississippi.

In 1983, Hurricane "Alicia" slammed into the Texas coast, leaving 22 dead and causing more than a billion dollars' worth of damage.

In 1991, Soviet⁵ hard-liners launched a coup⁶ aimed at toppling President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who was vacationing in the Crimea. (The coup collapsed⁷ three days later.)

In 1997, Beth Ann Hogan became the first coed in the Virginia Military Institute's 158-year history.

Ten years ago: A US frigate⁸ fired warning shots across the bow of an Iraqi oil tanker⁹ in the Gulf¹⁰ of Oman -- apparently¹¹ the first shots fired by the United States in the Persian Gulf crisis.

Five years ago: Shannon Faulkner, who'd won a two-and-a-half-year legal battle to become the first female cadet at The Citadel¹², quit the South Carolina military college after less than a week, most of it spent in the infirmary.

One year ago: A day after a deadly earthquake struck western Turkey, survivors¹³ denounced the rescue effort as sluggish¹⁴ and disorganized. (The death toll¹⁵ eventually topped 17,000.)