1794 – Congress changes US flag to 15 stars and 15 strips.
1863 – Chenille yarn making machine patented by William Carter in NYC.
1913 – Delta Sigma Theta, the world’s largest Black Women’s Society is founded at Howard University, Washington, D.C.
1920 – NY Times editorial (falsely) reports rockets can never fly.
1927 – US & Mexico battle over oil interests.
1928 – RCA and GE install three test television sets in homes in Schenectady, New York allowing American inventor E.F.W. Alexanderson to demonstrate the first home television receiver which delivered a poor unsteady 1.5 square inch picture.
1930 – “Mickey Mouse” comic strip 1st appears.
1942 – Henry Ford patents a method of constructing plastic auto bodies.
1948 – 1st country music TV show, Midwestern Hayride, premieres on WLS, Cincinnati.
1953 – 3rd NBA All-Star Game, Allen County Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana: West beats East, 79-75; MVP: George Mikan, Minneapolis Lakers.
1962 – Philadelphia center Wilt Chamberlain scores 73 points in Warriors’ 135-117 win over Chicago Packers; at the time, most points scored in NBA regulation game, and remains tied for 3rd-highest total.
1962 – Chubby Checker’s song “The Twist”, credited with starting the Twist dance craze, goes to #1 in the charts two years after first reaching number one spot.
1967 – Rolling Stones appear again on the Ed Sullivan Show.
1975 – Henry Kissinger hints at military action against oil countries in case of “actual strangulation of the industrialized world” in the wake of oil shock.
1979 – Charlie Daniels hosts Volunteer Jam.
1982 – Air Florida 737 took off in a snowstorm, crashes into 4th St Bridge in Washington, D.C., & falls into Potomac River, killing 78.
1992 – American serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer pleads guilty but insane.
2000 – Microsoft chairman Bill Gates steps aside as chief executive and promotes company president Steve Ballmer to the position.
2016 – Record Powerball lottery held in America – $1.6 billion, (3 winning tickets)