1861 – Steam elevator patented by Elisha Otis.
1865 – Ft. Fisher, NC, falls to Union troops.
1870 – Donkey first used as symbol Democratic party, in Harper’s Weekly.
1892 – Basketball rules first published in Triangle Magazine, written by James Naismith.
1907 – Gold dental inlays first described by William Taggart, who invented them.
1919 – Two million gallons of molasses flood Boston, Massachusetts in the “Great Molasses Flood” when a storage tank burst, drowning 21 and injuring 150.
1934 – New York Yankees slugger Babe Ruth, nearing end of illustrious career, signs a 1-year contract worth $35,000; represents a pay cut of $17,000 for “The Babe”.
1936 – 1st all-glass windowless structure in US completed, Toledo, Ohio.-
1942 – Chicago Cubs drop plans to install lights at Wrigley Field because of military’s need to materials; takes 35 years before lights finally installed at the venerable ballpark.
1943 – World’s largest office building, the Pentagon is completed to house the US military.
1951 – Supreme Court rule “clear & present danger” of incitement to riot is not protected speech & can be a cause for arrest.
1961 – Barry Gordy signs The Supremes with Motown Records.
1964 – San Francisco Giants make champion outfielder Willie Mays the highest-paid in baseball when they sign him to a new $105,000 per season contract.
1973 – 4 Watergate burglars plead guilty in federal court.
1987 – Champion Boston Celtics NBA forward Larry Bird is named Man of the Year by ‘Sporting News’ and Athlete of the Year by ‘Associated Press’: first time one athlete gains both distinctions.
1990 – 42-year-old former world heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman stops Gerry Cooney in 2 rounds in Atlantic City in a non-title bout; Cooney’s last bout.
1992 – Cleaning woman finds intimate photo of Sarah Ferguson with US man.
1998 – NASA announces John Glenn, 76, may fly in space again.
2001 – Wikipedia, a free Wiki or content encyclopedia is launched by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger.
2009 – Chesley Sullenberger lands US Airways Flight on the Hudson River shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport in NYC. All passengers and crew members survive in what becomes known as the “Miracle on the Hudson”
2018 – US Gymnast Simon Biles says she is one of more than 130 women sexually abused by former team doctor Larry Nassar.
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