1804 – Napoleon crowned himself emperor of France.
1823 – During his annual address to the U.S. Congress, President James Monroe proclaimed a new U.S. foreign policy initiative that became known as the “Monroe Doctrine.”
1859 – Abolitionist John Brown was hanged for his raid on the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, W.Va.
1954 – The Senate voted to condemn Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, R Wis., for “conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute.”
1961 – Cuban leader Fidel Castro declared himself a Marxist-Leninist who would lead Cuba to Communism.
1982 – Doctors at the University of Utah Medical Center performed the first implant of a permanent artificial heart in a human. Barney Clark lived 112 days with the device.
2001 – Enron filed for bankruptcy after reports of widespread accounting fraud became public.
