21 July 1861
On this date in 1861…
Confederate troops routed the invading federal army at the First Battle of Manassas, Virginia. The federal hopes for a quick and decisive defeat of Confederate troops ended in an embarrassing stampede back to Washington D.C. that left a trail of discarded guns and equipment all the way.
Other Years:
1669 – John Locke’s Constitution for the English colony of Carolina was approved
1865 – Bill Hickok killed Confederate veteran Dave Tutt in the first recorded showdown of the Wild-West era across the public square in Springfield, MO
1873 – The James–Younger Gang was blamed for the first successful train robbery at Adair, Iowa.
1925 – In Dayton, Tennessee, John T. Scopes was convicted and fined $100 for violating the state prohibition on teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution.
1957 – Althea Gibson of Clarendon County, South Carolina became the first black woman to win a major U.S. tennis title, the Women’s National clay-court singles competition.
2002 – WorldCom Inc. (MCI) headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia filed for what at the time it was the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
2011 – Space Shuttle Atlantis landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, ending NASA’s space shuttle program with mission STS-135
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