- 1778 – Nathanael Greene is appointed Quartermaster General of the Continental Army under George Washington.
- 1807 – Congress abolishes the African slave trade within the jurisdiction of the United States. The widespread trade of enslaved people within the South was not prohibited, however, and children of enslaved people automatically became enslaved themselves.
- 1836 – Texas declares independence from Mexico.
- 1865 – Freedman’s Bureau founded for Black Education
- 1877 – US Electoral Commission declares Rutherford B. Hayes (R) winner of the presidential election with an electoral vote of 185-184 against Samuel J. Tilden (D)
- 1899 – Mt. Rainier National Park is created.
- 1903 – The Martha Washington Hotel opens in New York City, the first exclusively for women.
- 1904 – Theodore Giesel is born.
- 1917 – Puerto Ricans become US citizens and are immediately recruited for the war effort.
- 1923 – Hovenweep National Monument, located in Utah and Colorado, is established.
- 1955 – Black teenager Claudette Colvin was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a public bus.
- 1958 – 1st surface crossing of Antarctic continent is completed in 99 days.
- 1965 – “The Sound of Music” is released. It goes on to become one of the most popular musical films of all time.
- 1968 – 19 year-old American Peggy Fleming wins her 3rd consecutive World Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Geneva, Switzerland; announces her retirement, turns professional and eventually goes into broadcasting.
- 1974 – Grand jury concludes that President Richard Nixon is involved in the Watergate cover-up.
- 1978 – Grave robbers steal Charlie Chaplin’s body. Weird, right?!
- 2000 – Former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet heads home after being told the UK would not extradite him on torture charges.
- 2016 – US astronauts Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko return to earth after nearly a year (340 days), setting an ISS record.
