1761 – 1st life insurance policy in North America issued in Philadelphia.
1803 – 1st US public library opens in Connecticut.
1807 – Townsend Speakman 1st sells fruit-flavored carbonated drinks in Philadelphia.
1849 – Abraham Lincoln receives a patent (only US President to do so) for a device to lift a boat over shoals and obstructions.
1892 – Dr. Washington Sheffield invents the toothpaste tube.
1900 – Associated Press organizes in NYC as non-profit news cooperative.
1906 – Wright Brothers are granted a patent for their “flying machine,” having applied for one 3 years earlier (patent no. 821,393)
1930 – Babe Ruth hits 3 consecutive HR (8th-10th of 60 in 1930)
1931 – Canned rattlesnake meat 1st goes on sale in Florida.
1942 – The Steel Workers Organizing Committee disbands, and a new trade union, the United Steelworkers, is formed.
1947 – “Truman Doctrine” goes into effect, aiding Turkey and Greece.
1961 – 1st revolving restaurant (Top Of The Needle in Seattle) opens.
1964 – LBJ presents “Great Society”
1973 – President Nixon confesses his role in Watergate cover-up.
1985 – US sailor Michael L. Walker arrested for spying for USSR.
1990 – Microsoft releases Windows 3.0.
1998 – Lewinsky scandal: a federal judge rules that United States Secret Service agents can be compelled to testify before a grand jury concerning the scandal, involving President Bill Clinton.
2004 – The U.S. town of Hallam, Nebraska, is wiped out by a powerful F4 tornado that broke a width record at an astounding 2.5 miles wide. It also kills on local resident.
2011 – An EF5 tornado strikes the US city of Joplin, Missouri killing at least 158 people, the single deadliest US tornado since modern record keeping began in 1950.
2016 – US President Barack Obama arrives in Vietnam for a 3 day tour.
2018 – Facebook Mark Zuckerberg is questioned by members of the European parliament in Brussels in wake of its security scandal.
2018 – New York Stock Exchange announces Stacey Cunningham will be its first woman head in its 226-year history.