1775 – Continental navy organized with 7 ships.
1807 – US Congress passes Embargo Act and President Thomas Jefferson signs into law. Prohibits American ships from trading in foreign ports, as result of involvement in hostilities between France and Britain.
1877 – Thomas Edison’s phonograph is announced by Scientific American.
1882 – 1st string of Christmas tree lights created by Thomas Jefferson.
1910 – US postage savings stamps 1st issued.
1931 – Retrospective show of Mexican artist Diego Rivera opens at The Museum of Modern Art in New York.
1936 – 1st common carrier license issued by ICC, Scranton, Pa.
1941 – Winston Churchill arrives in Washington, D.C. for a wartime conference.
1956 – Colo is born, the first gorilla to be bred in captivity at Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Columbus, Ohio.
1962 – Harris County voters approve all-weather stadium for Houston Colt .45s.
1963 – Official 30-day mourning period for President John F. Kennedy ends.
1964 – First flight of the US aircraft Lockheed SR-71, reaches 3,530 kph (record for a jet)
1973 – OPEC Gulf Six decides to raise the posted price of marker crude from $5.12 to $11.65 per barrel effective January, 1, 1974.
1975 – US President Gerald Ford signs the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA)
1977 – 36 die as grain elevator at Continental Grain Company plant explodes.
1988 – 2 robbers wearing police uniforms rob armored truck of $3 M in New Jersey.
1989 – Cold wave: -4 F in Oklahoma, -12 F in Pittsburgh, -23 F in Kansas City, Mo, -60 F in Black Hills, South Dakota.
2000 – On This Day launched as HistoryOrb.com.
2001 – Richard Reid attempts to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes aboard American Airlines Flight 63.
2010 – Repeal of the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy”, a 17-year-old policy banning homosexuals serving openly in the US military, signed into law by President Barack Obama.
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