1821 – Kentucky abolishes debtors’ prisons.
1900 – New Ellis Island Immigration station completed costing $1.5 million.
1903 – The Wright brothers make the fist sustained motorized aircraft flight at 10:35 AM, piloted by Orville Wright at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
1924 – 1st US diesel electric locomotive enters service, Bronx, NY.
1925 – Colonel William “Billy” Mitchell court-marshaled for insubordination.
1928 – John McGraw backs National League President John Heydler’s designated hitter idea.
1933 – National Football League Championship – 1st title game, Wrigley Field, Chicago: Chicago Bears beat New York Giants, 23-21; “Bronko Nagurski Rule” – forward pass is legal anywhere behind the line of scrimmage.
1935 – 1st flight of the Douglas DC-3 (C-47 Skytrain/Dakota) airplane.
1936 – Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen & dummy Charlie McCarthy, appear on TV.
1944 – US Army announces end of excluding Japanese-Americans from West Coast, detainees released.
1953 – US Federal Communications Commission approves RCA’s black & white compatible color TV specifications.
1957 – The last episode of The Nat King Cole Show airs on NBC due to lack of national sponsorship.
1965 – Astrodome opens, 1st event is Judy Garland & The Supremes concert.
1976 – Superstation WTBS in Atlanta went national.
1978 – OPEC raises oil prices by 18% and agrees on a 14.5% petroleum price increase for 1979, to be implemented quarterly.
1989 – “The Simpsons” created by Matt Groening, premieres on Fox TV as a full animated series with the episode, “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire”
1991 – Soap opera “One Life To Live” airs its 6,000th episode.
2013 – Cat Stevens, Hall & Oates, Kiss, Linda Ronstadt and Nirvana are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
2017 – “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” takes more than $450m worldwide in its opening weekend, 2nd largest opening in North America ($220m)
2018 – Dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster’s word of the year is “justice”
2018 – CBS announces former Chief Executive Les Moonves will not receive his $120 million exit payout.
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