
1736 – Bellevue Hospital was founded in a New York City almshouse. It was the first public hospital in the United States.
1861 – Confederacy took over mint at New Orleans (US Civil War)
1870 – Thomas Mundy Peterson of Perth Amboy, New Jersey was the first African American to vote in the US under provisions of the 15th Amendment to the Constitution.
1880 – Wabash, Indiana became the first town to claim to be completely illuminated by electric lighting.
1889 – Eiffel Tower officially opened in Paris. Built for the Exposition Universelle, at 300m high it retained the record for the tallest man made structure for 41 years.
1903 – Richard Pearse flew a monoplane several hundred yards in New Zealand.
1917 – The Danish West Indies were officially ceded to the US for $25 million and renamed the Virgin Islands.
1918 – The first daylight savings time in US went into effect.
1923 – The first dance marathon was held in New York City. Alma Cummings set the record of 27 hours with 6 different partners.
1932 – Ford publicly unveiled its V-8 engine.
1933 – Congress authorized the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).
1939 – “The Hound of Baskervilles,” first of 14 films starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson was released.
1958 – US Navy formed its atomic submarine division. On the same day, the USSR suspended its nuclear weapons tests and urged US and Britain to do the same.
1966 – USSR launched Luna 10, the first lunar orbiter.
1967 – Jimi Hendrix burned his first guitar on stage (London)
1968 – US President Lyndon B. Johnson announced in an address to the nation that he would not seek re-election.
1972 – The Official Beatles Fan Club closed down.
1972 – Final day of the rum ration in the Royal Canadian Navy.
1973 – Muhammad Ali suffered a broken jaw in a shock split-points decision loss to Ken Norton over 12 rounds in San Diego; Ali won in a rematch in another controversial split decision.
1983 – “Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life,” was released in the US.
1991 – Danny Bonaduce attacked a transvestite prostitute in Phoenix, Arizona.
2020 – British pensioner Robert Weighton became the world’s oldest man at 112 years.