1620 – Leaders of the Mayflower expedition frame the “Mayflower Compact,” designed to bolster unity among the settlers.
1789 – North Carolina ratifies the Constitution, becoming the 12th state to do so.
1877 – Thomas Edison announced his invention of the phonograph.
1922 – Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia became the first female United States Senator. Her appointment was temporary, as she served just 24 hours.
1973 – President Richard Nixon’s attorney, J. Fred Buzhardt, revealed the existence of an 18 1/2-minute gap in one of the White House tape recordings related to Watergate.
1974 – Congress passed the Freedom of Information Act.
