1877 – US inventor Thomas Edison demonstrates his hand-cranked phonograph for the first time.
1887 – US receives rights to Pearl Harbor, on Oahu, Hawaii.
1890 – 1st US Army – Navy football game, Score: Navy 24, Army 0, at West Point.
1910 – The first US patent for inventing the traffic lights system is issued to Ernest Sirrine.
1929 – Richard E. Byrd sends “My calculations indicate that we have reached vicinity of South Pole.” (He was wrong).
1932 – Cole Porters musical “Gay Divorcee” premieres in NYC.
1942 – US Office of Price Administration rations coffee for everyone, 10 pounds a year.
1943 – US aircraft carrier Hornet launched.
1944 – John Hopkins hospital performs 1st open heart surgery.
1948 – “Kukla, Fran, & Ollie debuted on NBC.
1953 – American Airlines begins 1st regular commercial NY-LA air service.
1956 – “Bells Are Ringing” opens at Shubert Theater NYC for 925 performances.
1959 – 2nd Grammy Awards: Mack The Knife, Bobby Darin wins.
1963 – LBJ sets up Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of JFK.
1972 – Co-founder of Atari, Nolan Bushnell releases Pong, 1st commercially successful video game in Andy Capp’s Tavern in Sunnyvale, California.
1981 – “My Fair Lady” closes at Uris Theater NYC after 119 performances.
1987 – Joe Montana of 49ers completes NFL record 22 consecutive passes.
1995 – CNN/fn, the financial network by Turner Enterprises, launches.
1997 – OPEC agrees to an increase in its production ceiling, OPEC has raised the ceiling to 27.5 million barrels per day for the first half of 1998.
2014 – 79th Iron Bowl: Alabama beats Auburn 55-44 in Tuscaloosa.