This Week in History

July 24- 1832: Benjamin Bonneville leads the first wagon train across the Rocky Mountains through Wyoming’s South Pass. The route became increasingly popular and was used extensively during the California

July 17– 1918: Russian Tsar Nicholas II and the Romanov royal family are executed by a Bolshevik firing squad in Yekaterinburg, Russia. 1936: A right-wing uprising, led by General Francisco

July 10- 1913: The world’s highest recorded temperature, 134.1°F (56.7°C), is measured at Furnace Creek Ranch in Death Valley, CA. (No word if anyone casually said, “…but it’s a dry

July 3- 1775: General George Washington arrives in Cambridge, MA and formally takes command of the Continental Army during the ongoing Siege of Boston. 1884: Dow Jones publishes its first

June 26- 1917: The first US troops arrive in France after the country enters World War I. 1945: The United Nations charter is signed by representatives of 50 nations in

June 19- 1829: Sir Robert Peel introduces the Metropolitan Police Act in Parliament. It will establish England’s first modern police force (“Bobbies.”) 1865: Newly-appointed Texas Governor Andrew Hamilton declares the

June 12- 1942: Anne Frank receives a diary for her 13th birthday. 1964: Nelson Mandela is taken to prison to begin serving his life sentence for a conviction on sabotage

June 5- 1947: US Secretary of State George Marshall outlines his plan for rebuilding Western Europe after World War II. 1968: Senator Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan

May 29- 1790: Rhode Island is the last of the 13 original colonies to ratify the US Constitution. 1886: Pharmacist John Pemberton begins advertising his newly created “medicine”: Coca-Cola! 1942:

May 22- 1843: The first wagon train of settlers bound for Oregon sets out from Independence, MO. 1939: Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler sign the “Pact of Steel” agreement, formalizing