1492 – Christopher Columbus notes first recorded reference to tobacco.
1869 – Free postal delivery formally inaugurated.
1904 – King C. Gillette patents the Gillette razor blade.
1919 – Senate first invokes the Cloture Rule to end a filibuster, passes Versailles Treaty.
1926 – First formal radio network, RCA, takes over AT&T’s 25 station network (NBC)
1937 – First congressional session in air-conditioned chambers.
1939 – The first unemployment compensation law, under the Social Security Act, that of the District of Columbia, was approved for grants by the Social Security Board.
1946 – Ted Williams is picked as American League Most Valuable Player.
1956 – “Li’l Abner” opens in St James Theater in New York City. It runs for 693 performances.
1956 – “Love Me Tender” (The Reno Brothers) film with Elvis Presley in his debut premieres.
1960 – Elgin Baylor of NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers scores 71 points against the New York Knicks.
1964 – Mickey Wright shoots 62, lowest golf score for a woman pro, at the Tall City Open, Midland, Texas.
1975 – “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” single released by Ed Bruce.
1979 – A package from Unabomber Ted Kaczynski begins smoking in the cargo hold of a flight from Chicago to Washington, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing.
1987 – 28 of 82 aboard Continental Airlines DC-9 die in crash in Denver.
1995 – Space shuttle Atlantis docks with orbiting Russian space station Mir.
2004 – Maria Sharapova becomes the first Russian to win the tennis season’s opening WTA Tour Championship. She beats American Serena Williams 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 at the Staples Center, Los Angeles.
2012 – Deep Horizon Oil spill. BP settles for $4.5 billion.
2013 – Sony launches PlayStation 4, selling one million units on the first day.
2017 – Country singer Blake Shelton wins People Magazine’s sexiest man alive award.
2022 – World’s population reaches 8 billion, just 11 years after passing 7 billion, though now slowing down. The population is expected to reach 9 billion in about 2037.
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