1681 – English Quaker William Penn receives charter from Charles II, making him sole proprietor of colonial American territory Pennsylvania.
1789 – 1st US Congress meets and declares constitution in effect (9 senators, 13 reps)
1791 – 1st Jewish member of US Congress, Israel Jacobs (PA), takes office.
1793 – Washington’s 2nd inauguration as US President, shortest speech (133 words)
1809 – Madison becomes 1st president inaugurated in American-made clothes.
1837 – Chicago becomes incorporated as a city.
1841 – Longest US presidential inauguration speech (8,443 words), William Henry Harrison.
1849 – US had no president, Polks term ends on a Sunday, Taylor couldn’t be sworn-in, Sen. David Atchison (pres pro tem) term ended March 3rd.
1881 – California becomes 1st state to pass plant quarantine legislation.
1902 – American Automobile Association (AAA) founded in Chicago.
1913 – 1st US law regulating the shooting of migratory birds passed.
1924 – “Happy Birthday To You” published by Claydon Sunny.
1944 – 1st US bombing of Berlin.
1954 – Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, announces the first successful kidney transplant.
1957 – The S&P stock market index is introduced, replacing the S&P 90.
1966 – John Lennon says “We (the Beatles) are more popular than Jesus.”
1978 – Chicago Daily News, founded in 1875, publishes last issue.
1993 – “Goodbye Girl” opens at Marquis Theater NYC for 188 performances.
1997 – US President Clinton bans federally funded human cloning research.
2011 – 42nd NAACP Image Awards: “For Colored Girls” wins Outstanding Motion Picture.