On this day in 2005, American adventurer Steve Fossett became the first person to complete a solo nonstop circumnavigation of the globe without refueling when he landed in Kansas after more than 67 hours in flight.
| 1962: | | | American Jackie Joyner-Kersee, considered by many to be the greatest female athlete ever, was born. |
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| 1934: | | American bank robber John Dillinger made a daring escape from prison at Crown Point, Indiana. |
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| 1931: | | |
"The Star-Spangled Banner,"
written by Francis Scott Key during the War of 1812, was officially adopted as the national anthem of the United States by act of Congress. |
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| 1923: | | The first issue of the American weekly newsmagazine Time was published. |
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| 1918: | | The second of two treaties of Brest-Litovsk concluded hostilities between the Central Powers and Soviet Russia during World War I. |
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| 1861: | | | The Russian emperor Alexander II issued the Emancipation Manifesto, freeing the serfs from slavery. |
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| 1820: | | Henry Clay helped win passage of the Missouri Compromise, which divided the United States over the issue of slavery for years afterward. |
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| 1671: | | The Paris Opéra first opened, with a performance of Pomone by composer Robert Cambert. |
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