1846 – Oregon territory divided between US & Britain at 49th parallel.
1861 – US Army abolishes flogging.
1864 – US Civil War Battle of Mobile Bay won by the Union led by Rear Admiral Farragut with the cry “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”
1891 – World’s 1st traveler’s cheques issued (American Express).
1914 – 1st electric traffic light installed in the USA on the corner of East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio.
1917 – The entire US National Guard is taken into national service, subject to presidential rather than state control.
1924 – Comic strip “Little Orphan Annie” by Harold Gray debuts.
1926 – 1st talkie movie “Don Juan” at Warner Theater, NY.
1926 – Houdini stays in a coffin under water for 1 1/2 hours before escaping.
1932 – Clyde Barrow and two associates kill Sheriff C.G. Maxwell and his deputy, Eugene C. Moore, the first time the Barrow gang killed a lawman.
1953 – “From Here to Eternity” based on book by James Jones, directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift and Frank Sinatra is released (Best Picture 1954).
1957 – “American Bandstand” premieres on network TV (ABC).
1964 – US begins bombing North Vietnam.
1967 – Bobby Gentry releases her only hit “Ode to Billy Joe”.
1975 – Stevie Wonder signs $13M contract with Motown.
1985 – Establishment of a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is announced.
1992 – 4 cops in Rodney King beating case indicted on civil rights charge.
2011 – NASA launches its Juno space probe from Cape Canaveral to orbit and study Jupiter.
2012 – General Motors signs a record breaking $559 million marketing deal with Manchester United.
2013 – Alex Rodriquez, New York Yankees MLB player, is banned for 211 games for using human growth hormones.