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Senate votes 99-0: Sandra Day O'Connor becomes the first woman on the Supreme Court

One senator missed the roll call and mailed an apology novel to make up for it.

Seventy-seven days after Ronald Reagan called her with the news, Sandra Day O'Connor faced her final hurdle. On September 21, 1981, the U.S. Senate confirmed her as an associate justice by a vote of 99 to 0, with only Montana's Max Baucus absent. She was sworn in days later as the first woman ever to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. Baucus later sent her a copy of the novel A River Runs Through It by way of apology…

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A British officer is caught near Tarrytown with Arnold's plans for West Point sewn into his boot

Three militiamen stop a stranger on the road and find the fort's defenses written out in his own hand.

1776

Fire sweeps British-held New York; a quarter of the city burns overnight

Flames broke out near Whitehall Slip and ran north through the night, taking Trinity Church with them.

2001

Every network goes dark to the same broadcast tonight; $200 million follows

ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox suspend their rivalry for two commercial-free hours of grief and music.

19421776 Club

Eddie Allen flies the XB-29 for the first time while factories are already tooling up to build it by the hundreds.

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The North Atlantic Treaty takes effect; twelve nations are now bound to defend each other

Four months after the signing in Washington, Article 5's promise becomes binding law.

1968

Democrats open in Chicago; protesters scale a Civil War statue in Grant Park

Police pull a demonstrator down and break his arm as chants of "kill the pigs" rise over the park.

1962

Mariner 2 lifts off for Venus, five weeks after its twin veered into the Atlantic

An Atlas-Agena rocket carries the patched-together probe off Launch Complex 12 before dawn.

1963

Two hundred fifty thousand hear King say he has a dream, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial

Mahalia Jackson calls out from behind him, and King leaves his prepared text behind.

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