1838 – Samuel Morse first publicly demonstrated his telegraph, in Morristown, N.J.
1847 – Samuel Colt obtains his first contract for the sale of revolver pistols to the U.S. government.
1912 – New Mexico is admitted to the Union as the 47th state.
1961 – Vice President Richard Nixon made official that he had been defeated by Sen. John F. Kennedy in one of the closest presidential elections in history.
1994 – Figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the right leg in an assault planned by the ex-husband of her rival, Tonya Harding.
