- 1606 – Three ships depart England carrying settlers who founded, at Jamestown, Virginia, the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States.
- 1777 – Revolutionary War: George Washington’s Continental Army goes into winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
- 1974 – Nelson Rockefeller is sworn in as Vice President under President Gerald Ford.
- 1998 – President Bill Clinton is impeached by the House of Representatives, becoming the second President of the United States to be impeached.
