1872 – Britain pays $15.5 million for damages during Civil War.
1899 – Henry Bliss becomes 1st recorded US death from an auto accident when he is hit by a taxicab in New York City.
1901 – Theodore Roosevelt is sworn in as the youngest man to serve as President after William McKinley finally dies after anarchist shoots him in Buffalo.
1916 – Christy Mathewson pitches and wins his final game.
1930 – Detroit Lions (as Portsmouth Spartans) play 1st NFL game, win 13-6.
1937 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt bans US ships from trading arms with China or Japan.
1939 – World’s 1st practical helicopter, the VS-300 designed by Igor Sikorsky, takes (tethered) flight in Stratford, Connecticut.
1942 – Navy Admiral Chester Nimitz presents the 1st Medal of Honor from WWII, for courage and valor beyond the call of duty during the attack on Pearl Harbor, to sailor John William Finn. Ceremony took place in Pearl Harbor aboard USS Enterprise.
1944 – Great Atlantic hurricane hits New England, 300-400 die along the East Coast.
1948 – Groundbreaking ceremony for United Nations world headquarters in New York.
1955 – Herb Score sets rookie record of 236 strikeouts (en route 245)
1956 – IBM introduces the RAMAC 305, 1st commercial computer with a hard drive that uses magnetic disk storage. It weighs over a ton.
1964 – President Lyndon Johnson presents Walter Loppmann with the Presidential Medal of Honor.
1972 – “The Waltons” TV program premieres on CBS starring Richard Thomas, Ralph Waite, Michael Learned, and Will Geer.
1981 – Judge Wapner and People’s Court premiere on TV.
1986 – Chicago Bears’ running back Walter Payton scores his 100th career rushing touchdown, and gains 177 yards, surpassing 15,000-yard career plateau in 13-10 overtime win over visiting Philadelphia Eagles at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois.
1997 – 49th Emmy Awards: Law & Order, Frasier, Dennis Franz & Gillian Anderson win.
2001 – Historic National Prayer Service held at Washington National Cathedral for victims of the September 11 attacks. A similar service is held in Canada on Parliament Hill, the largest vigil ever held in the nation’s capital.
2014 – The United States defeats Serbia 129-92 to win the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
2018 – Hurricane Florence makes landfall near Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, as a category 1 hurricane.
2021 – The United States records lowest level of people living in poverty since records began in 1967 (9.1% vs 11.8% in 2019), due to increase in government aid.
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