1804 – The French Senate declared Napoleon Bonaparte emperor.
1843 – The first major wagon train heading for the Pacific Northwest sets out on the Oregon Trail with one thousand pioneers from Elm Grove, Missouri.
1866 – Congress establishes the nickel.
1868 – President Andrew Johnson is acquitted in his impeachment trial by one vote in the Senate.
1918 – The Sedition Act of 1918 is passed by Congress, making criticism of the government during wartime an imprisonable offense. It will be repealed less than two years later.
1988 – A report by the Surgeon General C. Everett Koop states that the addictive properties of nicotine are similar to those of heroin and cocaine.
