1814 – Treaty of Ghent signed, ending the War of 1812 between the United States, the United Kingdom and their allies.
1849 – First great fire of early San Francisco starts east side of the Plaza, first of great seven fires in 2 years.
1851 – Fire devastates US Library of Congress in Washington, destroys 35,000 volumes.
1860 – Joseph Jefferson’s “Rip Van Winkle” premieres in NYC.
1865 – Several Confederate veterans form Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski, Tennessee.
1877 – Thomas Edison files for a patent for the phonograph.
1893 – Henry Ford completes his first useful petrol/gasoline fuelled engine.
1901 – Private companies allowed to use the word “postcard” in the US. Previously they were labeled “Private Mailing Cards” and known as “souvenir cards”
1912 – Irving Fisher patents archiving system with index cards.
1936 – 1st radioactive isotope medicine administered in Berkeley, California.
1941 – First ships of Admiral Nagumo’s Pearl Harbor fleet return to Japan.
1943 – US President FDR appoints General Eisenhower Supreme Commander of the Allied forces.
1948 – First US completely solar heated house is occupied (Dover, Mass)
1956 – “I Love Lucy” Christmas show airs, never put in syndication.
1968 – Apollo 8 astronauts read passages from Book of Genesis.
1973 – District of Columbia Home Rule act is passed, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to elect their own local government.
1974 – Former US astronaut John Glenn joins the Senate for Ohio.
1980 – Americans remembered Iran hostages by shining lights for 417 seconds.
1992 – US President George H.W. Bush pardons Caspar Weinberger for Iran-contra affair.
2001 – “Time Magazine” names New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani ‘Person of the Year’, for leadership after 9/11 attacks.
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