1818 – US Congress approves 1st pensions for government services.
1881 – Barnum & Bailey Circus, travelling as “The Greatest Show on Earth”, debuts at Madison Square Garden, New York City, would last 146 years before closing in 2017.
1911 – North Dakota enacts a hail insurance law.
1922 – WBT-AM in Charlotte, NC begins radio transmissions.
1931 – 1st electric shavers go on sale in US (Schick)
1942 – US President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9102, creating the War Relocation Authority, which was charged with overseeing the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
1945 – 1,250 bombers attacks Berlin.
1948 – Phillips begin experimental TV broadcasting.
1952 – 1st plastic lens for cataract patients fitted (Philadelphia)
1953 – Boston Braves move to Milwaukee.
1959 – US President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs Hawaii statehood bill.
1965 – Poppin’ Fresh Pillsbury Dough Boy introduced.
1966 – Scott Paper begins selling paper dresses for $1.
1977 – US restricts citizens from visiting Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea & Cambodia.
1985 – Capital Cities Communications Inc acquires ABC for $3.5 billion, first transfer of ownership of a TV network.
1987 – Gerber survey find most popular names for newborns are Jessica and Mathew.
1990 – PGA Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: Jodie Mudd wins by 1-stroke ahead of runner-up Mark Calcavecchia: winner’s check $270,000.
2003 – FBI agents raid the corporate headquarters of HealthSouth Corporation in Birmingham, Alabama on suspicion of massive corporate fraud led by the company’s top executives.
2014 – US closes the Syrian embassy in Washington & expels all Syrian diplomats.
2020 – US President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agree to close the US-Canada border, the world’s longest, to non-essential travel to curb COVID-19.