This Day in History Class

On this day in 1845, the United States Naval Academy opened its doors in Annapolis, Maryland, with a class of 50 midshipmen and seven professors.

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On this day in 1992, a meteorite the size of a bowling ball crashed into a parked Chevy Malibu in a suburb of Peekskill, New York.

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On this day in 1873, in response to the horrific treatment of female inmates at unisex prisons, the state of Indiana established the country’s first prison exclusively for women.

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On this day in 1982, the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats opened at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York City.

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On this day in 1961, in a letter to the Committee on Civil Defense, President John F. Kennedy advised American families to build fallout shelters as protection against a possible nuclear exchange with the Soviet Union.

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On this day in 1969, just before 11pm, the first episode of the groundbreaking comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus premiered in the United Kingdom.

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On this day in 1955, in a surprising upset, the Brooklyn Dodgers won the World Series, beating the New York Yankees 2-0.

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On this day in 1992, at the end of her performance on Saturday Night Live, Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor shocked the audience and viewers at home by tearing up a photo of Pope John Paul II.

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On this day in 1851, a French occultist named Jacques Benoît gave the first -- and last -- demonstration of his new invention: a snail-powered telegraph.

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On this day in 1942, Simon & Schuster published the first dozen titles in the long-running Little Golden Books series.

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