- 1522 – Anne Boleyn makes her debut at the English Court.
- 1628 – England’s King Charles I grants a royal charter to Massachusetts Bay Colony.
- 1789 – The first session of the US Congress is held.
- 1791 – Vermont is admitted to the Union as the 14th state.
- 1861 – Abraham Lincoln inaugurated.
- 1867 – Ida Gray Nelson Rollins is born. She became the first Black female dentist in the US.
- 1869 – The 42nd Congress convened with five Black congressmen, including Josiah T. Walls from Florida who was the first Black congressman to represent an entire state.
- 1877 – Garrett A. Morgan is born. This Black inventor came up with a belt fastener for sewing machines, the gas mask and the automatic traffic signal.
- 1888 – Knute Rockne is born
- 1917 – Jeannette Rankin (R-MT) took her seat as the first female member of Congress.
- 1918 – First cases reported in the US in a deadly flu pandemic that eventually killed 675,000 Americans.
- 1929 – Charles Curtis takes the oath of office and becomes the first Native American vice-president.
- 1933 – FDR inaugurated and Frances Perkins becomes the United States Secretary of Labor, the first female member of the United States Cabinet.
- 1936 – The first – and last – flight of the Hindenburg.
- 1952 – Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis marry.
- 1960 – Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz divorce after 20 tumultuous years of marriage.
- 1966 – John Lennon says “We (the Beatles) are more popular than Jesus.”
- 1975 – In a private ceremony, Queen Elizabeth II knights Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Chaplin Knight Commander of the British Empire.
- 1976 – Peyton Manning in born.
- 1989 – The Louvre Pyramid designed by I. M. Pei is inaugurated by French President Francois Mitterrand.
- 1994 – John Candy dies of a heart attack at age 43.
