1865 – Battle of Wilmington, NC (Fort Anderson) occupied by Federals.
1879 – 1st 5 cent & 10 cent store opened by Frank W. Woolworth in Utica, New York (failed almost immediately)
1903 – Due to drought the US side of Niagara Falls runs short of water.
1909 – Great White Fleet, 1st US fleet to circle the globe, returns to Virginia.
1920 – 1st artificial rabbit used a a dog track (Emeryville, California)
1934 – “It Happened One Night” directed by Frank Capra and starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert opens at NY’s Radio City Music Hall (Academy Awards Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay 1935)
1942 – ‘ I Shall Return’, World War II: President Franklin Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as American defenses collapse.
1957 – Walter O’Malley says Dodgers may play 10 exhibitions in California in 1958.
1959 – Inaugural Daytona 500: Lee Petty and Johnny Beauchamp cross finish line side by side: Beauchamp declared unofficial winner; ruling overturned after 3 days by NASCAR founder Bill France Sr.
1962 – Philadelphia center Wilt Chamberlain sets NBA record with 34 free throw attempts (converts 19) in Warriors 139-121 win over St. Louis Hawks at Philadelphia Civic Center.
1965 – Rodgers & Hammerstein’s television musical “Cinderella”, starring Lesley Ann Warren and Stuart Damon, with Pat Carroll and Celeste Holm, premieres on CBS-TV.
1972 – US President Richard Nixon meets with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in Beijing.
1978 – 2 tankers with propane gas explode killing 15 at Waverly, Tenn.
1988 – Bonnie Blair skates world record 500m (39.10 sec{
1992 – Barry Diller resigns as CEO of Fox.
1998 – “King and I” closes at Neil Simon Theater NYC after 781 performances.
2005 – 19th Soap Opera Digest Awards – “General Hospital” wins.
2014 – At age 34, Mario Matt of Austria becomes the oldest champion in Olympic alpine skiing history with the slalom gold at Sochi.
2017 – US President Donald Trump overturns Obama directive on Transgender rights to use toilets.
2021 – US death toll from COVID-19 passes 500,000, higher than US deaths in World War l, World War II, and the Vietnam War combined.
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