Yesterday, the Dow slipped 12.34 points (0.05%) to 25,952.48, the NASDAQ closed 18.29 points (0.23%) lower at 8,091.25, and the S&P 500 decreased 4.80 points (0.17%) to 2,896.72. The Russell 2000 lost 7.38 points (0.42%) to finish at 1,733.38, and the Wilshire 5000 was down 47.82 points (0.16%) at 30,226.71.

ON THIS DATE: In 1698, Russia’s Peter the Great imposed a tax on beards. In 1774, the first session of the U.S. Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia. The delegates drafted a declaration of rights and grievances, organized the Continental Association, and elected Peyton Randolph as the first president of the Continental Congress. In 1836, Sam Houston was elected as the first president of the Republic of Texas. In 1877, Sioux chief Crazy Horse was killed by the bayonet of a U.S. soldier. The chief allegedly resisted confinement to a jail cell. In 1881, the American Red Cross provided relief for disaster for the first time. The disaster was the Great Fire of 1881 in Michigan. In 1882, the first U.S. Labor Day parade was held in New York City. In 1901, the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues was formed in Chicago, IL. It was the first organized baseball league. In 1930, Charles Creighton and James Hagris completed the drive from New York City to Los Angeles and back to New York City all in reverse gear. The trip took 42 days in their 1929 Ford Model A. In 1945, Iva Toguri D’Aquino was arrested. D’Aquino was suspected of being the wartime radio propagandist “Tokyo Rose”. She served six years and was later pardoned by U.S. President Gerald Ford. In 1958, the first color videotaped program was aired. It was “The Betty Freezor Show” on WBTV-TV in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1958, Boris Pasternak’s “Doctor Zhivago” was published for the first time in the U.S. In 1960, Cassius Clay of Louisville, Kentucky, won the gold medal in light heavyweight boxing at the Olympic Games in Rome, Italy. Clay later changed his name to Muhammad Ali. In 1961, the U.S. government made airline hijacking a federal offense. In 1986, Merv Griffin aired his final program for Metromedia Television after 23 years on various talk shows. In 1989, Chris Evert retired from professional tennis after a 19-year career. In 1991, Soviet lawmakers created an interim government to usher in the confederation after dissolving the U.S.S.R. The new name the Union of Sovereign States was taken.