1865 The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified ending slavery. It had passed Congress earlier and ratification occurred when 3/4ths of the States agreed. What counted as a State in December 1865 was much vexed, as most of the Southern states were under military rule.
1894 Women in South Australia gained the right to vote in 1894 by a vote of the all-male South Australian parliament. Queen Victoria gave Royal Assent on 2 February 1895, allowing women to vote for the first time in the election of 1896.
1912 The discovery of Piltdown Man (Sussex) by amateur Charles Dawson was accepted as genuine at Geological Society of London for two generations although it was an amateurish prank. Only in 1953 was it denounced as a hoax.
1957 World’s first nuclear power plant began generating electricity for Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.
1961 EMI rejected the Beatles submission for a recording contract. A change of heart came later.
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