1698 – Thomas Savery patents the first steam engine.
1776 – New Jersey gives the right to vote to all adults who could show a net worth of 50 pounds.
1776 – At the Continental Congress, John Dickinson abstains from the votes that declare independence.
1843 – An alligator falls from the sky during a thunderstorm in Charleston, SC.
1850 – Benjamin Lane patents gas mask with a breathing apparatus.
1862 – Lincoln signs act granting land for state agricultural colleges.
1881 – US President James Garfield shot by Charles J. Guiteau, a disappointed office-seeker; Garfield died 79 days later.
1901 – Butch Cassidy & Sundance Kid rob train of $40,000 at Wagner, Montana.
1921 – Warren G. Harding signs a joint congressional resolution declaring the official end of war with Germany.
1937 – Amelia Earhart & Fred Noonan disappear over Pacific Ocean.
1941 – Joe DiMaggio breaks Willie Keeler’s 44 game hitting streak (45th of 56).
1949 – “High Button Shoes” closes at Century Theater NYC after 727 performances.
1955 – “Lawrence Welk Show” premieres on ABC.
1956 – Elvis Presley records “Hound Dog” & “Don’t Be Cruel”
1964 – US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs Civil Rights Act & Voting Rights Act into law.
1976 – Supreme Court rules death penalty not inherently cruel or unusual.
1989 – 10th U.S. Senior Golf Open: Orville Moody
1991 – Donald Trump proposes to Marla Maples and gives her a 7.5 carat diamond ring.
1994 – US Air DC-9 crashes in North Carolina, 37 killed.
2012 – GlaxoSmithKline settles the largest healthcare fraud case in history for US$3 Billion.