Today in history—December 30

1853: The United States pays General Antonio López de Santa Anna (left) $10 million for a slice of Mexican territory known as the Gadsden Purchase.  It is part of a plan to build a southern transcontinental railroad linking the slave states with the west coast, but the line is never built.

1873: Alfred Emanuel “Al” Smith is born in Manhattan. He will become governor of New York and Democratic candidate for president, but his lasting legacy is his later work as president of Empire State, Inc., the company that builds the Empire State Building.

1919: Lincoln’s Inn admits its first female law student.

1940: California opens the first freeway, named the Arroyo Seco Parkway but later called the Pasadena Freeway. Original speed limit: 45 miles per hour.

1942: Michael Nesmith (left) is born in Dallas, Texas. He will become fleetingly famous a a member of the Monkees, but will go on to created the music video and Nickelodeon’s Pop Clips program that will later be developed into MTV. After winning a $46 million breach of contract judgment against PBS, he says, “It’s like finding your grandmother stealing your stereo.  You’re happy to get your stereo back, but it’s sad to find out your grandmother is a thief.”

1953: Radio Corporation of America puts the first color television on sale in the United States. They’re priced at $1,175—over $8,000 in 2003 dollars.

1963: Article 2 is enacted in the District of Columbia, a year after the contracts in Williams v. Walker Thomas Furniture Co.