1776 – Continental Congress authorizes a medal for George Washington.
1865 – SS General Lyon at Cape Hatteras catches fire & sinks, killing 400.
1898 – Writer O. Henry sentenced to 5 years in prison for embezzling $854 from a bank reportedly to pay for is sick wife’s medical bills. Goes on to write many classics while in jail including “Whistling Dick’s Christmas Stocking.”
1913 – Great Dayton Flood: winter rains cause Great Miami River to flood, Ohio’s greatest natural disaster.
1919 – Woodrow Wilson’s dream of a League of Nations becomes a reality after the League Covenant is adopted at the Paris Peace Conference.
1934 – 1st Augusta National Invitation Tournament (Masters) Golf: Horton Smith wins with a 20-foot birdie putt at the 17th hole, 1 stroke ahead of Craig Wood.
1937 – It is revealed Quaker Oats pays Babe Ruth $25,000 per year for ads.
1941 – Carolina Paprika Mills in Dillon, South Carolina, incorporated.
1951 – 5th Tony Awards: “Guys & Dolls” (musical) and “The Rose Tattoo” (play) win.
1957 – NBA modifies the free-throw rule.
1965 – Martin Luther King Jr. leads 25,000 to state capitol in Montgomery, Alabama.
1971 – Tom Jones’ “She’s A Lady” goes gold.
1979 – Space Shuttle Columbia arrives at Kennedy Space Center to prepare for its first launch, which would eventually happen in 1981.
1987 – The US Supreme Court rules that gender-based workplace affirmative action plans do not constitute discrimination on the basis of sex under the Civil Rights Act 1964.
1991 – 63rd Academy Awards: “Dances with Wolves”, Kathy Bates & Jeremy Irons win.
1996 – US issues newly-redesigned $100 bill.
2013 – Golfer Tiger Woods returns to his world number one ranking.
2019 – Apple introduces new TV streaming platform Apple TV+ and an Apple credit card at star-studded event.
2021 – President Joe Biden announces a new goal of 200 million vaccinations in his administration’s first 100 days (previously 100 million)
