1885 – The American Telephone and Telegraph Co. was incorporated in New York as a subsidiary of American Bell Telephone.
1935 – DuPont scientist Wallace Carothers invents nylon.
1940 – Basketball is televised for the first time. A game between Fordham University and the University of Pittsburgh from Madison Square Garden is aired.
1983 – The final episode of M*A*S*H airs, with almost 106 million viewers.
1993 – Federal agents attempting to serve warrants on the Branch Davidian religious cult’s compound near Waco, Texas, were met with gunfire, marking the start of a month-and-a-half-long standoff.
2013 – Pope Benedict XVI resigns as the pope of the Catholic Church, becoming the first pope to do so since Pope Gregory XII in 1415.
