This week in history… Michael Phelps, Jimmy Hoffa and MTV
We reached way back this week to the year 781, when the first recorded eruption of Mount Fuji took place. The 40th anniversary of Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance was this week, and Medicare, Medicaid, NASA and the desegregation of the U.S. military were all signed into law. More from this week in history…
- July 26, 1788: New York becomes the 11th state in the union. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
- July 26, 1948: On this date, President Harry S. Truman signs Executive Order 9981, which desegregated the U.S. military. (AP Photo/File)
- July 27, 1940: The cartoon short ‘A Wild Hare’ is released, which introduced the popular Looney Toons character Bugs Bunny. (File photo)
- July 27, 1996: Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta is attacked by a terrorist bombing during the Summer Olympics, killing 1 (from a heart attack) and injuring more than 100. (AP Photo/Joe Traver/ACOG)
- July 28, 1935: The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress plane takes its first flight at Boeing Field in Seattle. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)
- July 29, 1836: Paris’ Arc de Triomphe is officially inaugurated. Its construction was commissioned in 1806 by Napoleon Bonaparte, but was halted for several years during his abdication. ( AFP PHOTO)
- July 29, 1958: President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs into law the National Aeronautics and Space Act, creating NASA. (NASA Handout photo)
- July 30, 1930: The Uruguay men’s soccer team, whose team can be seen here in 2015, wins the first ever FIFA World Cup. (FP PHOTO / OMAR TORRESOMAR TORRES/AFP/Getty Images )
- July 30, 1965: President Lyndon B. Johnson signs into law the Social Security Act, which establishes Medicare and Medicaid. (AP File photo)
- July 30, 1975: Jimmy Hoffa disappeared on this date, and was never seen again. He was officially declared dead 7 years later on July 30, 1982. (Reuters file photo)
- July 31, 781: The oldest recorded eruption of Japan’s Mount Fuji, seen here in 1999, took place on this date. (AP Photo/Kyodo)
- July 31, 2006: Fidel Castro steps down as the leader of Cuba and hands over the power to his brother, Raul. (AP Photo/files)
- Aug. 1, 2012: Michael Phelps becomes to most decorated Olympian in history at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. (AFP PHOTO / CHRISTOPHE SIMONCHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP/GettyImages)
- Aug 1, 1981: Music Televison, AKA, MTV, begins broadcasting in the U.S. by airing “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles. (File photo)