Yesterday, the Dow closed 157.13 points (0.62%) lower at 25,178.61, the NASDAQ gained 27.52 points (0.36%) to finish at 7,588.33, and the S&P 500 was down 3.55 points (0.13%) at 2,783.02. The Russell 2000 increased 3.91 points (0.25%) to 1,601.06, and the Wilshire 5000 was up 4.33 points (0.02%) at 28,863.88.

ON THIS DATE: In 1639, Harvard University was named for clergyman John Harvard. In 1777, the U.S. Congress ordered its European envoys to appeal to high-ranking foreign officers to send troops to reinforce the American army. In 1781, Sir William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus. In 1852, the New York “Lantern” newspaper published the first “Uncle Sam cartoon”. It was drawn by Frank Henry Bellew. In 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis signed a bill authorizing slaves to be used as soldiers for the Confederacy. In 1868, the U.S. Senate began the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson. In 1877, Chester Greenwood patented the earmuff. In 1884, Standard time was adopted throughout the U.S. In 1901, Andrew Carnegie announced that he was retiring from business and that he would spend the rest of his days giving away his fortune. His net worth was estimated at $300 million. In 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court approved corporate tax law. In 1925, a law in Tennessee prohibited the teaching of evolution. In 1930, it was announced that the planet Pluto had been discovered by scientist Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory. In 1933, U.S. banks began to re-open after a “holiday” that had been declared by President Franklin Roosevelt. In 1935, three-thousand-year-old archives were found in Jerusalem confirming some biblical history. In 1942, Julia Flikke of the Nurse Corps became the first woman colonel in the U.S. Army. In 1951, the comic strip “Dennis the Menace” appeared for the first time in newspapers across the country. In 1969, the Apollo 9 astronauts returned to Earth after the conclusion of a mission that included the successful testing of the Lunar Module. In 1974, an embargo imposed by Arab oil-producing countries was lifted. In 1991, Exxon paid $1 billion in fines and for the clean-up of the Alaskan oil spill. In 2006, in New York City, the official start of construction of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum began. In 2012, after 244 years of publication, Encyclopædia Britannica announced it would discontinue its print edition.