1869 – Harper’s Weekly publishes 1st picture of Uncle Sam with chin whiskers.
1894 – Bottle opener patented by William Painter.
1911 – 1st old-age home opened in Prescott, Arizona.
1921 – “The Kid”, silent film starring Charlie Chaplin & Jackie Cooper, released.
1935 – “Monopoly” board game goes on sale for 1st time.
1943 – Singer Frank Sinatra debuts on radio’s “Your Hit Parade”
1948 – 1st radio controlled airplane flown.
1951 – Radio commentator Paul Harvey arrested for trying to sneak into Argonne National Laboratory, a nuclear test site located 20 miles west of Chicago.
1958 – Future Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder Ted Williams becomes highest paid player in MLB when he re-signs with Boston Red Sox for $135,000.
1965 – Righteous Brothers “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” hits #1.
1971 – 1st time a golf ball is hit on the Moon (by Alan Shephard)
1974 – US House of Representatives begins determining grounds for impeachment of President Richard Nixon.
1980 – John Wayne Gacy goes on trial for the murder of 33 young men in Cook County, Illinois.
1987 – No-smoking rules take effect in US federal buildings.
1990 – Groundbreaking begins on Baltimore Orioles’ new $102 million stadium.
1995 – Rapper Tupac Shakur convicted on sexual assault charge and sentenced to up to 4 1/2 years in prison.
1998 – Mary Kay LeTourneau, 36, former teacher, who violated probation by seeing 14-year-old father of baby, sentenced to 7 years.
1998 – Washington National Airport is renamed Ronald Reagan National Airport.
2011 – Super Bowl XLV, Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, TX: Green Bay Packers beat Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-25; MVP: Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay, QB.
2014 – Jay Leno ends his time on “Tonight Show”
2018 – Elon Musk’s company SpaceX launches Falcon Heavy, world’s most powerful rocket.
2020 – Date of the 1st COVID-19 related death in the US (confirmed by the CDC April 21)