July 15th

1806 - Lieutenant Zebulon Pike began his western expedition from Fort Belle Fountaine, near St. Louis, MO.

1863 - Confederate raider Bill Anderson and his Bushwhackers attacked Huntsville, MO, where they stole $45,000 from the local bank.

1870 - Georgia became the last of the Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union.

1876 - George Washington Bradley of St. Louis pitched the first no-hitter in baseball in a 2-0 win over Hartford.

1888 - "Printers’ Ink" was first sold.

1901 - Over 74,000 Pittsburgh steel workers went on strike.

1904 - The first Buddhist temple in the U.S. was established in Los Angeles, CA.

1916 - In Seattle, WA, Pacific Aero Products was incorporated by William Boeing. The company was later renamed Boeing Co.

1922 - The duck-billed platypus arrived in America, direct from Australia. It was exhibited at the Bronx Zoo in New York City.

1940 - Robert Wadlow died at the age of 22. At that time he was 8 feet, 11-1/10 inches tall and weighed 439 pounds.

1965 - The spacecraft Mariner IV sent back the first close-up pictures of the planet Mars.

1965 - Joan Rivers and Edgar Rosenberg were married.

1973 - Nolan Ryan of the California Angels became the first pitcher in two decades to win two no-hitters in a season.

1976 - A 36-hour kidnap ordeal began for 26 schoolchildren and their bus driver when they were abducted by three gunmen near Chowchilla, CA. All of the captives escaped unharmed.

1985 - Baseball players voted to strike on August 6th if no contract was reached with baseball owners. The strike turned out to be just a one-day interruption.