- 1847 – Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the U.S. government.
- 1865 – The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters near Wall Street in New York City.
- 1885 – Dr. William Grant of Davenport, Iowa, performed the first successful appendectomy.
- 1893 – President Benjamin Harrison granted amnesty to all people who had abstained from practicing polygamy since Nov. 1, 1890. It was part of a deal for Utah to achieve statehood.
- 1896 – Utah is admitted as the 45th state.
- 1965 – The “Great Society” is proclaimed by President Lyndon B. Johnson during his State of the Union address. The Great Society was a set of domestic programs to eliminate poverty and injustice.
- 1974 – President Richard Nixon refuses to hand over materials subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.
- 1975 – Elizabeth Ann Seton was canonized as the first Roman Catholic saint born in America.
- 1999 – Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura was sworn in as governor of Minnesota.
