1899 – United States takes possession of Wake Island in the Pacific.
1911 – Percy MacKaye’s stage play “Scarecrow” premieres in New York City.
1920 – First day of prohibition of alcohol goes into effect as a result of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution.
1929 – Popeye makes his first appearance in the comic strip “Thimble Theater.”
1943 – Tin Can Drive Day in the United States to collect scrap metal to help efforts during World War II.
1948 – Trial of 11 Communist party members in the United States begins in New York City.
1950 – The Great Brinks Robbery: 11 men rob $1.2 million in cash and $1.5 million in 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.”
1966 – Martin Luther King Jr. opens the Chicago Campaign, a nonviolent campaign aimed at achieving fair housing practices.
1970 – 357 baseball players are available in the free agent draft.
1970 – The Sporting News names Willie Mays as Player of the Decade for the 1960s.
1977 – Convicted murderer Gary Gilmore is executed by firing squad in Utah state prison.
1980- NASA launches satellite Fltsatcom 3.
1982 – “Cold Sunday” in the United States would see temperatures fall to their lowest levels in over 100 years in numerous cities. The lowest temperature recorded was minus-52 near Tower, Minnesota.
1987 – President Ronald Reagan signs secret order permitting covert sale of arms to Iran.
1995 – The Los Angeles Rams announce they are moving to St. Louis.
1998 – President Bill Clinton faces sexual harassment charges from Paula Jones.
2012 – LeBron James becomes the youngest player in NBA history to record 20,000 career points during the Miami Heat’s 92-75 victory over the Golden State Warriors. James, at 28 years and 17 days, passes Kobe Bryant, who held the record at 29 years and 122 days.
2017 – President Barack Obama commutes WikiLeaks discloser Chelsea Manning’s prison sentence from 35 years to 7 years.
2017 – Search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which disappeared without a trace over the Indian Ocean, is called off.
Author: Sonny Jones
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