1790 – President George Washington gave the first State of the Union address.
1815 – Gen. Andrew Jackson decisively defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812.
1828 – The Democratic Party is organized.
1835 – The U.S. national debt is zero for the only time.
1867 – Congress approved legislation that allowed blacks to vote in the District of Columbia.
1964 – President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a “War on Poverty” in the United States.
1973 – Watergate scandal: The trial of seven men accused of breaking into Democratic Party headquarters at Watergate begins.
1975 – Ella T. Grasso becomes Governor of Connecticut, the first woman to serve as a governor in the U.S. other than by succeeding her husband.
2002 – President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act into law.
2011 – Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Az) was shot and critically wounded when a gunman opened fire as the congresswoman met with constituents in Tucson. Six people were killed, and 12 others were injured.
