- 1861 American inventor Irving Colburn born; invented process to create flat glass in a continuous sheet, vastly increasing its availability.
- 1866 American phramacist Charles Hires invents root beer.
- 1918 Urged by Democrat President Woodrow Wilson, Congress passes the Sedition Act which bars "disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language" about the United States government, the flag, or the armed forces during war; upheld by the Supreme Court the following year in Debs v. United States where five-time Socialist Party presidential candidate E.V. Debs was sentenced to ten years in prison.
- 1946 American engineer Jack Mullin demonstrates the first magnetic tape recorder.
- 1960 American physicist Theodore Maiman demonstrates the first laser, using a ruby crystal, at Hughes Research Laboratories in California.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Today in History: May 16
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