1768 – John Hancock pays duties on 25 pipes of wine, only one fourth of his ship’s carrying capacity, and British officials accuse him of unloading the rest during the night to avoid paying the duties on the entire cargo.
1862 – US Naval Academy relocated from Annapolis, MD to Newport, RI.
1882 – Telegraph Hill RR Co. (Cable Cars) in San Francisco organized.
1899 – John Burr patents an improved rotary blade lawn mower in the US.
1913 – 17th amendment provides for election of senators by popular vote.
1914 – US President Woodrow Wilson proclaims Mother’s Day.
1926 – 1st flight over the North Pole claimed by Richard E. Byrd and co-pilot Floyd Bennett. Later discovery of Byrd’s diary suggests they may have turned back 150 miles short of the pole due to an oil leak.
1944 – 1st eye bank opens in New York.
1944 – Country singer Jimmie Davis becomes governor of Louisiana.
1960 – US becomes the first country to legalize the birth control pill.
1961 – FCC Chairman Newton N. Minow criticizes TV as a “vast wasteland.”
1964 – Peter & Gordon release “World Without Love.”
1967 – 1st flight of Fokker F-28 Friendship.
1974 – US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee begins formal hearings on Nixon impeachment.
1978 – “Ain’t Misbehavin” opens at Longacre Theater NYC for 1604 performances.
1983 – 18th Academy of Country Music Awards: Alabama, Ronnie Milsap, and Sylvia win.
1992 – Final episode of “Golden Girls” airs on NBC-TV.
2005 – Liberal commentary website The Huffington Post is launched.
2012 – Mark Rothko’s “Orange, Red, Yellow” becomes the most expensive contemporary art piece to be sold at auction for $86.9 million dollars.
2012 – United States President Barack Obama officially states his support for same sex marriage.
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