Todayâs Highlight in History: On May 10, 1869, a golden spike was driven in Promontory, Utah, marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States. On this date: In 1774, Louis XVI acceded to the throne of France. In 1775, Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys, along with Col. Benedict Arnold, captured the British-held fortress at Ticonderoga, New York. In 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis was captured by Union forces in Irwinville, Georgia. In 1924, J. Edgar Hoover was named acting director of the Bureau of Investigation (later known as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI). In 1933, the Nazis staged massive public book burnings in Germany.