1765 London, Politics: Parliament passed the Stamp Act to pay for the last war with France. It levied taxes on every transaction in the American colonies from buying a newspaper, a cigar, a bolt of cloth, to a bank loan. It was the latest in a series of taxes to pay off war debts. Because it was so ubiquitous this tax became a proximate cause of the American revolution. The stamp tax on property sales remains one of the main sources of income of Australian state governments, that and gambling taxes.
1784 Bangkok, Thailand, Religion: The Emerald Buddha was moved to a temple on the grounds of the Royal Palace. It is two feet high and shows a seated Buddha. Records refer to it in 1434 but its exact origins are unknown.
1897 Sydney, Politics: Edmund Barton hosted the first conference of the six colonies of Australia to discuss a single constitution for the whole. Pictured below is his notebook with comments on the 1891 draft Federal Constitution.
1960 Murray Hill (NJ), Science: The first patent for a laser was granted to Arthur Schawlow and Charles Townes of Bell Labs. Earlier patents had failed because they lacked practical details. Some say they copied the idea from Gort. Having had laser surgery, I am grateful to one and all.
1972 DC, Politics: The Equal Rights Amendment passed Congress and went to the states for ratification. ERA guaranteed rights to women as first proposed in 1923. Hawaii was the first state to ratify. A backlash followed and the amendment failed ratification by 3/4ths of the states.
Skip to content