1820 – Britain’s King George III, who lost the American colonies, died at the age of 82.
1850 – Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850 to the U.S. Congress.
1861 – Kansas is admitted as the 34th state.
1886 – German Karl Benz was awarded a patent for the gasoline-driven automobile.
1907 – Charles Curtis of Kansas becomes the first Native American U.S. Senator
1980 – The Rubik’s Cube makes its international debut at the Ideal Toy Corp. in London.
2002 – In his State of the Union address, President George W. Bush described “regimes that sponsor terror” as an Axis of evil, in which he includes Iraq, Iran and North Korea.
2009 – Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich is removed from office following his conviction on several corruption charges.