1801: Deadlock over presidential election ends: After one tie vote in the Electoral College and 35 indecisive ballot votes in the House of Representatives, Vice President Thomas Jefferson is elected the third president of the United States over his running mate, Aaron Burr. The confusing election, which ended just 15 days before a new president was to be inaugurated, exposed major problems in the presidential electoral process set forth by the framers of the U.S. Constitution. More here
1903: Ferry sinks near Haiti: Approximately 900 people drown when a passenger ferry, the Neptune, overturns near Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on this day in 1993. The ferry was dangerously overloaded, and carried no lifeboats or emergency gear. The Neptune was a 150-foot boat, with three decks, that made regular trips transporting people, farm animals and some cargo from Jeremie to Port-au-Prince. The 150-mile voyage usually took about 12 hours. The Neptune should have carried a maximum of 650 people, but it regularly took on larger numbers of passengers. In addition, the boat was notorious for its lack of safety equipment. More here
1933: Newsweek magazine is published for the first time: Newsweek magazine was launched in 1933 by a group of U.S. stockholders “which included Ward Cheney, of the Cheney silk family, John Hay Whitney, and Paul Mellon, son of Andrew W. Mellon,” according to America’s 60 Families by Ferdinand Lundberg. The same book also noted in 1946 that “Paul Mellon’s ownership in “Newsweek” apparently represented “the first attempt of the Mellon family to function journalistically on a national scale.” More here
1979: China invades Vietnam: In response to the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia, China launches an invasion of Vietnam. More here
