On this day in 1965, state troopers used nightsticks and tear gas to attack American civil rights activists as they crossed a bridge in Selma, Alabama, during their march to the state capitol in Montgomery.
| 1987: | | American boxer Mike Tyson became the youngest heavyweight to acquire the World Boxing Association (WBA) championship belt when he defeated James Smith in 12 rounds. |
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| 1876: | | | Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for the telephone. |
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| 1875: | | Composer Maurice Ravel was born in Ciboure, France. |
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| 1850: | | U.S. Senator Daniel Webster spoke out in favour of the Compromise of 1850 (enacted in September), a series of moderate measures that addressed the question of slavery in U.S. territories. |
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| 1792: | | | English astronomer Sir John Herschel, a successor to his father, Sir William Herschel, in the field of stellar and nebular observation and discovery, was born. |
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| 1644: | | | Massachusetts established the first bicameral legislature in North America. |
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| 161: | | | Marcus Aurelius became emperor of Rome. |
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