On Aug. 30, 1861, Union Gen. John C. Fremont instituted martial law in Missouri and declared slaves there to be free. (Fremont’s order was countermanded by President Abraham Lincoln.)
In 1905, Ty Cobb made his debut as a player for the Detroit Tigers, hitting a double in his first at-bat in a game against the New York Highlanders.
In 1949, Hank Williams went into Herzog Studio in Cincinnati to record ‘I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry’. Williams wrote the song originally intending that the words be spoken, rather than sung. The song about loneliness was largely inspired by his troubled relationship with wife Audrey Sheppard.
In 1983, Guion S. Bluford Jr. became the first Black American astronaut to travel in space.
In 1993, “The Late Show with David Letterman” premiered on CBS-TV.In 2007.
In 2015, the White House announced that President Barack Obama would change the name of North America’s tallest mountain peak from MountMcKinley to Denali, the traditional Alaska Native name.