1898 – Spanish-American War: Spain declares war after rejecting United States ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba.
1908 – Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Murdock and their children depart Los Angeles in a Packard Thirty, endeavoring to become the first family to travel across the United States by car, arriving in New York City in 32 days, 5 hours and 25 minutes.
1913 – The Woolworth Building opened in New York City by Frank Winfield Woolworth at a cost of $13.5 million and at 792 feet it was the world’s tallest building.
1917 – Congress passes the Liberty Loan Act, authorizing the Treasury to issue a public subscription for $2 billion in bonds for the war.
1928 – Fathometer, which measures underwater depth, patented.
1944 – First Boeing B-19 arrives in China flying over the Himalayan Mountains which was known as flying “Over the Hump.”
1950 – President Harry Truman says there are communists in the United States government.
1956 – American League umpire Frank Umont is the first to wear glasses in a regular season game.
1961 – President John Kennedy accepts “sole responsibility” following Bay of Pigs invasion on the south coast of Cuba.
1963 – Future Basketball Hall of Fame point guard Bob Cousy plays his last National Basketball Association game for Boston as the Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers 112-109 in Game 6 for their fifth straight championship.
1967 – Vietnam War: General William Westmoreland says in a news conference that the enemy had “gained support in the United States that gives him hope that he can win politically that which he cannot win militarily.”
1974 – National Football League grants franchise to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
1979 – Georgia designates Ray Charles’ rendition of “Georgia On My Mind,” written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell, as the official state song.
1986 – Film “Crocodile Dundee” starring Paul Hogan and Linda Kozlowski premieres in Australia. It’s the highest grossing film of the year in the United States.
1990 – Security law violator Michael Milken pleads guilty to six felonies.
1995 – Dow Jones index hits record 4303.98.
2004 – NFL draft: Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning is the first pick by San Diego Chargers.
2018 – Streaming music services overtake worldwide sales of CDs and vinyl for the first time, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
2021 – Joe Biden becomes the first president to officially recognize killing of Armenians in the Ottoman empire during World War II as “genocide.”
2023 – India surpasses China as the world most populous country, according to United Nations estimates, with 1,425,775,850 people. India is estimated to reach 1.7 billion by 2064.
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