On this day in 1939, New York Yankee great Lou Gehrig, the “Iron Horse” of American baseball, ended his streak of consecutive games played (2,130), setting a record that stood until 1995, when it was broken by Cal Ripken, Jr.
| 1935: | | | The peasants of Luzon, Philippines, rose up in arms against oppressive land tenancy laws. |
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| 1892: | | | Manfred, Freiherr (baron) von Richthofen (the “Red Baron”), Germany's top aviator and leading ace in World War I, was born in Breslau, Germany (now Wroc?aw, Poland). |
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| 1889: | | Menilek II of Ethiopia signed the Treaty of Wichale with Italy, granting it territory in northern Ethiopia in exchange for money and weaponry. |
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| 1803: | | The United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France at a rate of less than three cents per acre for 828,000 square miles (2,144,520 square km), which soon proved to be a tremendous bargain. |
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| 1519: | | | Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci died in Cloux, France. |
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