1821 – Mexico permits Moses Austin and 300 US families to settle in Texas, after his death leaves to son Stephen.
1963 – Civil War skirmish near Newtown, Virginia.
1871 – 1st cable car patented, by Andrew Smith Hallidie in the US (begins service in 1873)
1899 – US take possession of Wake Island in the Pacific.
1911 – Percy Mackaye’s “Scarecrow” premieres in NYC.
1917 – US pays Denmark $25 million for Virgin Islands.
1920 – First day Prohibition comes into effect in the US as a result of the 18th amendment.
1929 – Popeye makes 1st appearance in comic strip “Thimble Theater”
1934 – Electric Home & Farm Authority incorporated.
1943 – Tin Can Drive Day in the US, salvage collected for the war effort.
1948 – Trial of 11 US Communist party members begins in NYC.
1950 – The Great Brinks Robbery: 11 men rob $1.2M securities from armored car company Brink’s offices in Boston, Massachusetts.
1961 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers a televised farewell address to the nation three days before leaving office in which he warns against the accumulation of power by the “military-industrial complex”.
1952 – NASA civilian pilot Neil Armstrong takes X-15 to 40,890m.
1972 – Section of Memphis’ Highway 51 South renamed Elvis Presley Boulevard.
1982 – “Cold Sunday” in the United States would see temperatures fall to their lowest levels in over 100 years in numerous cities.
1987 – US President Reagan signs secret order permitting covert sale of arms to Iran.
1991 – Operation Desert Storm begins, with US-led coalition forces bombing Iraq, during the Gulf War.
1998 – US President Bill Clinton faces sexual harassment charges from Paula Jones.
2016 – Fourth Democratic presidential candidates debate: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders clash over healthcare and gun control in Charleston, South Carolina.
2017 – US President Barack Obama commutes WikiLeaks discloser Chelsea Manning’s prison sentence from 35 to 7 years.
About Author
