1801 – John Marshall is appointed the Chief Justice of the United States.
1917 – Germany announces it will wage unrestricted submarine warfare against all ships, including passenger carriers, in war-zone waters.
1929 – The Soviet Union expelled communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky. He was assassinated in Mexico in August 1940.
1945 – U.S. Army Pvt. Eddie Slovik, 24, was executed by firing squad for desertion. His was the first U.S. execution for desertion since the Civil War.
1958 – Explorer 1, the first successful U.S. satellite, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
1990 – Moscow’s first McDonald’s restaurant opened.
