This Day in History (1955): Pass another passport, please

From the April 6, 1955, edition of the Sun and Flare

This is Dhahran Consul General John W. Carrigan's busy season.

On April 1, he signed the 1,500th new passport issued in a year's time. The 1,500th was issued to Marvin Wilt of Aramco.

From July 1, 1954, to April 1, 1955, the Consulate General also renewed 1,088 passports and issued 2,588 Lebanese visas.

Carrigan said the credit for smooth operation should go to Vice Consul Theodore A. Wahl and Miss Della Dunham of Aramco's Passport Office in Dhahran.

Also on this date:

2016 - American singer-songwriter and guitarist Merle Haggard dies on his 79th birthday at his home in Palo Cedro, California

2009 - A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes near L'Aquila, Italy, killing 307

1973 - The American League of Major League Baseball begins using the designated hitter

1973 - Launch of the Pioneer 11 spacecraft

1968 - Pierre E. Trudeau wins the Liberal Party leadership election, and becomes Prime Minister of Canada

1957 - Olympic airways is founded by Aristotle Onassis following the acquisition of "TAE-Greek National Airlines

1947 - The first Tony Awards are presented for theatrical achievement

1929 - At the end of the Salt March, Ghandi raises a lump of mud and salt and declares, "With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire."

1926 - Varney Airlines, the root company of United Airlines, makes its first commercial flight

1909 - Robert Peary and Matthew Henson become the first people to reach the North Pole (though Peary's claim has been disputed due to his navigation failings)

1896 - In Athens, the opening of the first modern Olympic Games is celebrated 1,500 years after the original games were banned by Roman emperor Theodosius I

1808 - John Jacob Astor incorporates the American Fur Company, which would eventually make him America's first millionaire

1652 - At the Cape of Good Hope, Dutch sailor Jan van Riebeek establishes a resupply camp that eventually becomes Cape Town