1647 – Alse Young becomes first person executed as a witch in the American colonies, when she is hanged in Hartford, Connecticut.
1868 – US President Andrew Johnson avoids impeachment by 1 vote.
1896 – Dow Jones begins an index of 12 industrial stocks (closing is 40.84)
1898 – San Francisco approves City Charter, allows Municipal ownership of utilities.
1924 – US President Calvin Coolidge signs Immigration law restricting immigration.
1927 – Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company produce the last (and 15th million) Model T Ford/Tin Lizzie.
1930 – Supreme Court rules buying liquor does not violate the Constitution.
1940 – 1st successful helicopter flight in US: Vought-Sikorsky US-300 designed by Igor Sikorsky.
1941- American Flag House (Betsy Ross’ Home) given to city of Philadelphia.
1945 – US drop fire bombs on Tokyo.
1956 – A fire on board of the aircraft carrier USS Bennington in Narragansett Bay, off Rhode Island, kills 103 crew.
1972 – US President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev sign SALT accord.
1978 – 1st legal gambling casino opens in Atlantic City.
1984 – US President Ronald Reagan rules out US military intervention in Iran-Iraq war.
1989 – American radio broadcasters go silent for 30 seconds at 7:42 a.m. to honor the radio industry.
1998 – The United States Supreme Court rules that Ellis Island, the historic gateway for millions of immigrants, is mainly in the state of New Jersey, not New York.
2004 – The United States Army veteran Terry Nichols is found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing.
2004 – The New York Times publishes admission of journalistic failings, claims its flawed reporting and lack of skepticism during buildup to 2003 Iraq War helped promote belief that Iraq possessed large stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.
2014 – World Health Organization confirms that Ebola has reached Sierra Leone.
About Author
