July 28

1865: The American Dental Association proposed its first code of ethics. 1851: A total solar eclipse was first captured on a daguerreotype photograph at the Royal Observatory in Königsberg, Prussia. 1858: Fingerprints were used as a means of identification for the first time. 1866: The metric system was authorized for the standardization of weights and measures throughout the United States this day. 1900: Louis Lassing of New Haven, CT created the first hamburger. 1907: Earl Tupper, inventor of the plastic Tupperware, was born. 1934: Nelly Diener became Europe’s first air stewardess. 1943: President Roosevelt announced the end of coffee rationing. 1945: A U.S. Army B-25 bomber got lost in the fog and crashed into Empire State Building. 1977: The 799-mile trans-Alaska pipeline began full operation as the first oil from Prudhoe Bay arrived at Valdez. 1986: NASA released a transcript from doomed Challenger space shuttle, where pilot Michael Smith could be heard saying, "Uh-oh!" as spacecraft disintegrated.