Michael T. Mondak speaks: 40 til 40 day 35

Happy birthday America as I post on this 35th day of the 40 til 40 series of blog entries about anything and everything relevant to the number 40 leading up to next Thursday and my 40th birthday.  And in honor of Independence Day, I will post about the 40 most significant events in American history.

40. September 21, 1970:  The American Broadcasting Company launched Monday Night Football with the team of Keith Jackson, Don Meredith and Howard Cosell.

39. July 1, 1941:  Commercial television began in the United States.

38. September 26, 2012:  Following the Fail Mary incident on Monday Night Football, the NFL referee lockout ended.

37. November 22, 1963:  President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.

36. July 30, 2002:  President George W. Bush signed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act into law following the Enron and WorldCom scandals.

35. September 28, 1985:  The Pittsburgh drug trials began.

34. June 27, 2025:  The United States Supreme Court ruled in Mahmoud v. Taylor that the Montgomery County Public Schools unconstitutionally burdened parents’ religious exercise when it required their children to participate in instruction that violated their families’ religious beliefs, a violation of the First Amendment.

33. March 17, 2009:  Dan Rooney was nominated as United States Ambassador to Ireland by president Barack Obama.

32. May 4, 1970:  Four people were killed on the campus of Kent State University while protesting the expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia, the presence of the National Guard, and the draft.

31. April 5, 1954: The United States Supreme Court ruled in Federal Communications Commission v. American Broadcasting Company, Inc. that game shows were not considered a violation of the illegal lottery laws.

30. June 11, 1963:  President John F. Kennedy invoked the Insurrection Act to force Alabama governor George Wallace to end his Stand at the Schoolhouse Door.

29. September 2, 1945:  Japan surrendered to the United States, ending World War II.

28. July 28, 1984:  The Summer Olympics opened in Los Angeles.

27. May 1, 1992:  President George H.W. Bush invoked the Insurrection Act to quell the rioting in Los Angeles over the Rodney King verdict.

26. September 14, 1994:  The World Series was cancelled for the first time since 1904 due to an ongoing players strike.

25. February 26, 1987:  The NCAA Committee on Infractions imposed the death penalty on Southern Methodist University football for repeated improper benefits to student athletes.

24. July 19, 1996:  The Summer Olympics opened in Atlanta.

23. April 8, 1865:  Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union general Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, ending the Civil War.

22. September 9, 1996:  Following the fatal crash of USAir Flight 427 in Hopewell Township, President Bill Clinton signed the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act into law requiring the National Transportation Safety Board to provide assistance to families of the victims of major airline crashes.

21. July 10, 1999:  The United States women’s soccer team defeated China in a penalty kick shootout to win the Women’s World Cup at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

20. May 17, 1954:  The United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that the doctrine of “separate but equal” in public schools was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment.

19. February 24, 1969:  The United States Supreme Court ruled in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District that students cannot be suspended from school for exercising their right to free speech under the First Amendment.

18. September 17, 1920:  The National Football League was founded in Canton, Ohio.

17. June 6, 1944:  American troops stormed the beaches in Normandy, France.

16. February 8, 2002:  The Winter Olympics opened in Salt Lake City.

15. December 8, 1941:  The United States entered World War II following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

14. June 21, 2021:  The United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled in NCAA v. Alston that the NCAA violated the Sherman Act by limiting academic-based compensation to student athletes in the name of amateurism.

13. February 22, 1980:  The United States national hockey team defeated the Soviet Union 4-3 in the medal round of the 1980 Winter Olympics hockey competition in Lake Placid dubbed the Miracle on Ice.

12. January 15, 1967:  The Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in the first Super Bowl played at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles.

11. November 6, 1869:  Princeton and Rutgers played in the first ever college football game.  Rutgers won 6-4.

10. November 2, 1920:  KDKA radio in Pittsburgh went on the air for the first time to broadcast the results of that year’s presidential election returns.

9. July 28, 2002:  Nine miners were rescued from Quecreek Mine in Pennsylvania after 77 hours trapped underground.

8. September 11, 2001:  In the worst terrorist attack in history, more than 3000 people were killed in four separate plane crashes at the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

7. August 9, 1974:  President Richard Nixon resigned as president.

6. November 8, 2024:  Donald Trump became the first since Grover Cleveland to be elected to a second nonconsecutive term as president.

5. September 13, 1960:  In the aftermath of the quiz show scandals, president Dwight D. Eisenhower signs legislation that prohibits the broadcasting of any televised contest or game with intent to deceive the viewing audience.

4. December 13, 2000:  After 36 days of recounting votes in Florida, George W. Bush is elected president by the electoral college despite losing the popular vote.

3. July 20, 1969:  Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon.

2. July 4, 1776:  The United States declared independence from Great Britain.

1. January 20, 1981:  As Ronald Reagan delivered his first inaugural address, the Iran Hostage Crisis ended as 52 American hostages were released.