- 1802 – Victor Hugo is born.
- 1829 – Levi Strauss is born.
- 1852 – John Kellog, of cereal fame, is born.
- 1859 – Louise DeKoven Bowen is born. She was a philanthropist, civic leader, social reformer and suffragist. For public administration aficionados, she was a key funder of and fundraiser for “Hull House,” one of the nation’s first settlement houses.
- 1869 – The 15th Amendment, guaranteeing the right for men to vote, is sent to the states for ratification.
- 1919 – Grand Canyon National Park is established.
- 1921 – Wilma Heide is born. An educator and women’s studies pioneer, she served as president of National Organization for Women from 1971-72, and spearheaded gender discrimination charges against AT&T.
- 1929 – Grand Teton National Park is established.
- 1932 – Johnny Cash is born.
- 1935 – Hitler signs a secret decree authorizing the founding of the Reich Luftwaffe.
- 1944 – Sue Dauser, Director of the Navy Nurse Corps, became the first female Captain in the U.S. Navy.
- 1958 – Susan Helms is born. In 2001, she became the first military woman in space and performed the longest spacewalk with astronaut James Voss.
- 1962 – US Supreme court disallows race separation on public transportation
- 1965 – Jimmie Lee Jackson, civil rights activist, dies of injuries inflicted by officers in Marion, Alabama.
- 1970 – National Public Radio files articles of incorporation with the District of Columbia Recorder of Deeds. The organization’s membership is comprised of independent, private, public U.S. radio stations.
- 1986 – Robert Pen Warren is named the nation’s first Poet Laureate.
- 1993 – World Trade Center is bombed.
- 1995 – Selena Quintanilla, “Queen of Tejano Music,” performs her last televised concert. She was murdered a few weeks later by the president of her fan club.
- 2012 – 17-year old Trayvon Martin is shot and killed while wearing a hoodie.
- 2020 – Ramona Hood becomes FedEx’s first Black female president and CEO.
