1817 – 1st American school for the deaf opens (Hartford, Connecticut)
1874 – NY legislature passes compulsory education law.
1892 – General Electric Company formed by merger of Thomas Edison’s General Electric Company with Thomson-Houston Electric Company, arranged by J.P. Morgan and incorporated in NY.
1910 – William H. Taft is first US President to throw out a 1st ball at a baseball game.
1912 – RMS Titanic sinks at 2:27 AM off Newfoundland as the band plays on, with the loss of between 1,490 and 1,635 people.
1923 – Insulin becomes generally available for diabetics.
1935 – 39th Boston Marathon won by John A Kelley in 2:32:07.4.
1945 – FDR buried in grounds of Hyde Park home.
1947 – Jackie Robinson becomes 1st African-American to play in US major league baseball (Dodgers).
1952 – Franklin National Bank issues 1st bank credit card.
1955 – Ray Kroc opens first McDonald’s Inc. fast food restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois.
1960 – Guy Carawan sings “We Shall Overcome” to a Student Nonviolet Coordinating Committee in Raleigh, NC – popularising the song as a protest anthem.
1962 – US national debt above $300,000,000,000.
1969 – North Korea shoots a US airplane above Japanese sea.
1975 – 1st appearance of San Diego Chicken.
1987 – Alfred Uhry’s “Driving Miss Daisy” premieres in NYC.
1997 – Baseball honors Jackie Robinson by retiring #42 for all teams.
2011 – “Black Friday” for online poker in the US: Indictment United States v. Scheinberg shuts down sites, accusing companies of fraud and money laundering.
2013 – Boston Marathon bombings: 3 people are killed and 183 injured after two explosions near the finish line.
2020 – US’s deadliest day during COVID-19 pandemic with 2,752 deaths reported.
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