On this date:
In A.D. 54, Roman emperor Claudius I died, poisoned apparently at the behest of his wife, Agrippina.
In 1775, the U.S. Navy had its origins as the Continental Congress ordered the construction of a naval fleet.
In 1843, the Jewish organization B'nai B'rith was founded in New York City.
In 1845, Texas voters ratified a state constitution.
In 1943, Italy declared war on Germany, its one-time Axis partner.
In 1944, American troops entered Aachen, Germany, during World War II.
In 1957, CBS-TV broadcast "The Edsel Show," a one-hour live special starring Bing Crosby designed to promote the new, ill-fated Ford automobile. (It was the first special to use videotape technology to delay the broadcast to the West Coast.)
In 1960, Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy participated in the third televised debate of their presidential campaign. (Nixon was in Los Angeles; Kennedy was in New York.)
In 1962, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," by Edward Albee, opened on Broadway. (The opening coincided with co-star Melinda Dillon's 23rd birthday.)
In 1974, longtime television host Ed Sullivan died in New York City at age 72.
Ten years ago: A jet-powered car driven by British Royal Air Force pilot Andy Green streaked across Nevada's Black Rock Desert at speeds topping 764 miles an hour, faster than the speed of sound. However, the car couldn't complete two runs within the 60 minutes required by record-keepers. (Green officially broke the record two days later.) In Quebec, Canada, 43 senior citizens and a bus driver were killed when the bus plunged into a ravine.
