1791 – John Stone of Concord, Massachusetts, patents a pile driver.
1849 – Abraham Lincoln applies for a patent (only US President to do so) for a device to lift a boat over shoals and obstructions.
1876 – First telephone call; Alexander Graham Bell says “Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you” to his assistant Thomas Watson.
1891 – Almon Strowger, an undertaker in Topeka, Kansas, patents the strowger switch, device which let to the automation of telephone circuit switching.
1893 – New Mexico State University cancels it 1st graduation ceremony; its only graduate, Sam Steele was robbed & killed the night before.
1910 – Pittsburgh Courier newspaper begins publishing.
1922 – KLZ AM in Denver, Colorado begins radio transmissions.
1933 – Nevada becomes 1st US state to regulate narcotics.
1941 – Lee MacPhail, Dodger GM predicts all players will wear batting helmets.
1945 – Patton’s 3rd Army makes contact with Hodge’s 1st Army.
1959 – Tennessee Williams’ “Sweet Bird of Youth” premieres in NYC.
1964 – Simon and Garfunkel record the first version of “The Sound of Silence” at Columbia Studios in New York City.
1969 – James Earl Ray pleads guilty to the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr.
1971 – US Senate approves amendment lowering voting age to 18.
1982 – US President Reagan proclaims economic sanctions against Libya.
1990 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
1997 – The PalmPilot, as developed by Jeffrey Hawkins, is released.
2000 – The NASDAQ Composite stock market index peaks at 5132.52, signaling the beginning of the end of the dot-com boom.
2010 – Carlos Slim becomes the first Mexican and person from an emerging economy to top Forbes Richest Person list, with a net worth of US$53 billion.
2014 – German Chancellor Angela Merkel warns Russia’s Vladimir Putin that making Crimea part of Russia is illegal and in violation of Ukraine’s constitution.
About Author
