1610 – Henry Hudson enters bay later named after him, the Hudson Bay.
1776 – Formal signing of the US Declaration of Independence by 56 people (date most accepted by modern historians)
1782 – George Washington creates Honorary Badge of Distincton.
1790 – 1st US census conducted – population is 3,939,214; 697,624 are slaves.
1791 – Samuel Briggs & his son, patent nail-making machine.
1819 – 1st parachute jump in US.
1858 – 1st mailboxes installed in Boston & NYC streets.
1865 – Lewis Carroll publishes “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”
1887 – Rowell Hodge patents barbed wire.
1909 – 1st Lincoln head pennies minted.
1934 – 1st airplane train, plane tows 3 mail gliders behind it.
1939 – Hatch Act prohibits political activity by federal workers.
1961 – Beatles 1st gig as house band of Liverpool’s Cavern Club.
1965 – Morley Safer sends 1st Vietnam report indicating the US is losing.
1972 – Gold hits record $70 an ounce in London.
1985 – Delta Lockheed L-1011 crashes at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, 137 die.
1987 – Michael Andretti runs fastest Indy car race in history (171.49 MPH)
1990 – US President George H.W. Bush orders troops to Saudi Arabia.
1999 – “The Sixth Sense”, starring Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, and Haley Joel Osment, premieres.
2008 – “Breaking Dawn”, 4th book in Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight Saga” is published by Little Brown at midnight with a print run of 3.7 million copies.
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