In 1865, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, abolishing slavery, was ratified as Georgia became the 27th state to endorse it.

In 1907, at least 361 men and boys died in a coal mine explosion in Monongah, West Virginia; it was the worst mining disaster in U.S. history.

In 1917, more than 1,700 people were killed when an explosives-laden French cargo ship, the Mont Blanc, collided with the Norwegian merchant vessel SS Imo in the harbor in Halifax, Nova Scotia, setting off a blast that devastated the Canadian city.

In 1923, a presidential address was broadcast nationally on radio for the first time as Calvin Coolidge spoke to a joint session of Congress.

In 1957, America’s first attempted satellite launch failed as Vanguard TV3 rose about four feet off a Cape Canaveral launc

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