THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1620 - The Mayflower departed from Plymouth, England. The ship arrived at Provincetown, MA, on November 21st and then at Plymouth, MA, on December 26th. There were 102 passengers onboard.

1630 - The village of Shawmut changed its name to Boston.

1782 - The Great Seal of the United States was impressed on document to negotiate a prisoner of war agreement with the British. It was the first official use of the impression.

1810 - The Mexicans began a revolt against Spanish rule. Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a Catholic priest of Spanish descent, declared Mexico's independence from Spain in the small town of Dolores.

1893 - The "Cherokee Strip" in Oklahoma was swarmed by hundreds of thousands of settlers.

1908 - General Motors was founded by William Crapo "Billy" Durant. The company was formed by merging the Buick and Olds car companies.

1919 - Marvin Middlemark was born. He was the inventor of the rabbit ears TV antenna.

1924 - Jim Bottomley knocked in 12 runs in a single game setting a major league baseball record.

1940 - U.S. President Roosevelt signed into law the Selective Training and Service Act, which set up the first peacetime military draft in U.S. history.

1940 - Samuel T. Rayburn of Texas was elected Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. He served for 17 years.