1749 – 1st edition of Henry Fieldings’ novel “Tom Jones” published.
1784 – John Wesley charters Methodist Church.
1827 – 1st commercial railroad in US, Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) chartered.
1849 – 1st load of gold rush prospectors arrives in San Francisco from east coast.
1903 – Barney Dreyfuss & James Potter buys Philadelphia Phillies for $170,000.
1925 – “Tea For Two” by Marion Harris hits #1.
1940 – 1st televised basketball game (U of Pittsburgh beats Fordham U, 50-37)
1940 – US population at 131,669,275 (12,865,518 African American (9.8%))
1943 – “Porgy & Bess” opens on Broadway with Anne Brown & Todd Duncan.
1956 – American engineer Wright Forrester issued a patent for computer core memory.
1960 – 8th Winter Olympic games close at Squaw Valley, California.
1967 – Wilt Chamberlain sinks NBA record 35th consecutive field goal.
1971 – 53rd PGA Championship: Jack Nicklaus shoots a 281 at PGA National Florida, Nicklaus wins his 2nd golf grand slam.
1976 – 18th Grammy Awards: “Love Will Keep Us Together” Record of the Year, Natalie Cole 1st African American to win Best New Artist.
1977 – 1st killer whale born in captivity (Marineland, Los Angeles, California)
1983 – Final TV episode of “M*A*S*H” airs (CBS); record 125 million watch in the US.
1993 – Gun battle erupts near Waco, Texas at Branch Davidian compound after FBI attempts a raid.
1998 – First flight of RQ-4 Global Hawk, the first unmanned aerial vehicle to file its own flight plans and fly regularly in U.S. civilian airspace.
2012 – 54th Daytona 500: Matt Kenseth wins (140.256 MPH)
2013 – The brains of two rats successfully connected so that they share information.