1810, Circus innovator and huckster P.T. Barnum is born. He dies in 1891.
1865, the Secret Service began as part of the U.S. Treasury Department, to fight money counterfeiting.
1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act into law, which provided for a National Labor Relations Board and authorized workers to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining.
1946, the bikini bathing suit, created by Louis Reard, debuted at a Paris fashion show. The bikini was named for Bikini atoll in the Pacific Ocean, which had been the site of a U.S. atomic test explosion four days earlier.
1954, Elvis Presley‘s first commercial recording session took place at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee. The song he recorded, “That’s All Right (Mama),” became his first hit.
1971, it was decided that Negro League players elected to baseball’s Hall Of Fame would be given full membership in Cooperstown, rather than being enshrined in a separate wing as had been previously announced.
1975, Arthur Ashe became the first black man to win a Wimbledon singles title, as he defeated Jimmy Connors.
1984, the U.S. Supreme Court weakened the 70-year-old “exclusionary rule,” ruling that evidence seized with defective warrants could be used against defendants in criminal trials.
1989, The Seinfeld Chronicles, the original name of the sitcom that would become Seinfeld, aired on NBC.
1994, in an attempt to halt a surge of Haitian refugees, the Clinton administration announced that it was refusing entry to new Haitian boat people.
1995, More than 100 Grateful Dead fans were injured when a deck on which they were dancing collapsed near Wentzville, Missouri.
1996, MSNBC, the 24-hour all-news network, made its debut on cable and the Internet.