1759 – 1st American life insurance company incorporated.
1794 – U.S. Marshal Robert Forsyth is killed in Augusta, Georgia, trying to serve court papers, first US marshal to die carrying out his duties.
1838 – First public demonstration of telegraph message sent using dots & dashes at Speedwell Ironworks, Morristown, New Jersey by Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail.
1873 – 1st livestock market newspaper published, Drover’s Journal, Chicago.
1897 – M.H. Cannon becomes 1st woman state senator in US (Utah)
1913 – 1st sedan-type car (Hudson) goes on display at 13th Auto Show (NYC)
1915 – Col. Jacob Ruppert & Col. Tillinghast Huston purchase Yankees baseball team for $460,000.
1935 – Ameilia Earhart flies from Honolulu to Oakland, California (non-stop, of course)
1938 – Frances Moulton elected 1st woman president of a US national bank.
1949 – Snowfall 1st recorded in Los Angeles.
1964 – 1st government report warning by US Surgeon General Luther Terry that smoking may be hazardous.
1971 – Detroit Tigers ace reliever John Hiller, 27, suffers a heart attack, but later makes a remarkable comeback to record 38 saves.
1976 – Dorothy Hamill wins her 3rd consecutive national figure skating championship.
1982 – Atlanta, Georgia’s temperature drops below zero F.
1986 – 1st African American Lieutenant Governor since reconstruction sworn in – Douglas Wilder of Virginia.
1991 – Congress empowers President Bush to order attack on Iraq.
1991 – Ric Flair wins NWA/WCW wrestling title.
1993 – Independent presidential candidate Ross Perot publicly returns to politics.
1996 – Space Shuttle STS 72 (Endeavour 10), launches into space.
2007 – Author J.K. Rowling finishes the 7th and last Harry Potter novel in room 552 of the Bamoral Hotel, Edinburgh.