1789—Georgetown, 1st US Catholic college, founded.
1812—7.8 earthquake shakes New Madrid, Missouri.
1845—Uniform US election day for president and VP authorized.
1849—Mrs. Elizabeth Blackwell becomes 1st woman physician in US.
1853—John Wilkes Booth is baptized at St. Timothy’s Protestant Episcopal Church.
1855—The first bridge over the Mississippi river opens in what is now Minneapolis, Minnesota, a crossing made today by the Father Louis Hennepin Bridge.
1862—Agoston Haraszthy, 1st vintner in Sonoma Valley, California imports 10,000 grape vine cuttings.
1889—Daniel Williams forms Provident Hospital in Chicago.
1897—Elva Zona Heaster is found dead in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. The resulting murder trial of her husband is perhaps the only case in United States history where the alleged testimony of a ghost helped secure a conviction.
1907—Charles Curtis of Kansas becomes 1st Native American US senator.
1909—1st radio rescue at sea.
1943—Duke Ellington plays at Carnegie Hall in New York City for the first time.
1950—AP picks “Miracle Braves” of 1914 as greatest sports upset.
1950—NFL rule changes open way for 2-platoon system (offense & defense)
1955—Babe Didrikson-Zaharias wins LPGA Tampa Golf Open.
1961—Supreme Court rules cities & states have right to censor films.
1964—24th amendment to the United States Constitution ratified, barring poll tax in federal elections.
1968—Joe Medwick elected to Baseball Hall of Fame.
1970—US launches 2nd generation weather satellite, ITOS 1.
1973—US President Richard Nixon announces an accord has been reached to end Vietnam War.
1975—“Barney Miller” premieres on ABC TV.
1979—Willie Mays elected to Baseball Hall of Fame.
1982—World Airways DC-10 skids at Boston Logan Airport killing 2.
1983—“A-Team” with Mr. T premieres on NBC.
1983—Bjorn Borg announces his retirement from tennis.
1983—Cerebral Palsy telethon raises $14,700,000.
1986—1st induction of Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame (Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, J.L. Lewis & Elvis Presley)
1991—“Seinfeld” debuts on NBC-TV.
1993—US female Figure Skating Championship won by Nancy Kerrigan.
1998—Pope John Paul II condemns US embargo against Cuba.
2013—US armed forces overturns 1994 ban on women serving in combat.
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