1606 – Virginia Company settles leave London to establish Jamestown, Virginia.
1790 – 1st successful US cotton mill to spin yarn in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
1820 – Missouri imposes a $1 bachelor tax on unmarried men aged between 21 & 50.
1864 – Battle of Ft. Fisher, NC.
1879 – Thomas Edison privately demonstrated incandescent light at Menlo Park.
1893 – 1st state anti-lynching statute approved, in Georgia.
1912 – J Hartley Manners’ “Peg O’ Heart” premieres in NYC.
1919 – US House of Representatives restricts immigration.
1922 – Bob Hope becomes an American citizen.
1941 – World War II: First battle of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the “Flying Tigers” in Kunming, China.
1945 – Rationing of auto tires ends in US.
1962 – Osmond Brothers debut on Andy Williams Show.
1967 – 474,300 US soldiers in Vietnam.
1978 – H.R. Haldeman, Nixon’s White House Chief of Staff released from jail.
1989 – US troops invade Panama & oust Manuel Noriega, but don’t catch him.
1990 – Pentagon warns Saddam that US air power is ready to attack on 1/15.
2002 – US Senator Trent Lott resigns as majority leader.
2005 – New York City’s Transport Workers Union Local 100 goes on strike over pension and wage increases, shutting down all subway and bus services for three days.
2012 – Apple is denied a patent for mobile pinch-to-zoom gestures by the US patent authorities.
2012 – Intercontinental Exchange purchases the New York Stock Exchange, the largest in the world, for $8 billion.
2017 – US House and Senate pass $15 trillion tax and jobs bill, the biggest tax overhaul for decades.