On this day for the United States
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Events
- 1801 - Washington, DC is placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress.
- 1860 - Abraham Lincoln makes a speech at Cooper Union in the city of New York that was largely responsible for his election to the Presidency.
- 1864 - American Civil War: The first Northern prisoners arrive at the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia.
- 1879 - Announcement of the discovery of artificial sweetener saccharin.
- 1922 - A challenge to the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing women the right to vote, is rebuffed by the Supreme Court of the United States in Leser v. Garnett.
- 1939 - American Civil Rights Movement: Sit-down strikes are outlawed by the Supreme Court of the United States.
- 1940 - Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discovered carbon-14
- 1942 - World War II: During the Battle of the Java Sea, an allied (ABDA) strike force is defeated by a Japanese task force in the Java Sea in the Dutch East Indies
- 1943 - The Smith Mine #3 in Bearcreek, Montana, explodes, killing 74 men.
- 1951 - The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified.
- 1973 - The American Indian Movement occupies Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
- 1974 - People magazine is published for the first time.
- 1986 - The United States Senate allows its debates to be televised on a trial basis.
- 1991 - Gulf War: U.S. President George H. W. Bush announces that "Kuwait is liberated."
Births
- 1807 - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet (d. 1882)
- 1878 - Alvan T. Fuller, 50th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1958)
- 1886 - Hugo Black, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1971)
- 1888 - Earl Caddock, American professional wrestler (d. 1950)
- 1890 - Freddie Keppard, American jazz musician (d. 1933)
- 1892 - William Demarest, American actor (d. 1983)
- 1897 - Marian Anderson, American contralto (d. 1993)
- 1902 - Gene Sarazen, American golfer (d. 1999)
- 1902 - John Steinbeck, American writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1968)
- 1904 - James T. Farrell, American writer (d. 1979)
- 1904 - Chick Fullis, American baseball player (d. 1946)
- 1905 - Franchot Tone, American actor (d. 1968)
- 1907 - Mildred Bailey, American singer (d. 1951)
- 1910 - Joan Bennett, American actress (d. 1990)
- 1910 - Peter De Vries, American writer (d. 1993)
- 1910 - Ted Horn, American race car driver (d. 1948)
- 1910 - Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, American aircraft engineer (Lockheed Skunk Works; d. 1990)
- 1913 - Irwin Shaw, American writer (d. 1984)
- 1923 - Dexter Gordon, American jazz saxophonist (d. 1990)
- 1925 - Samuel Dash, American Congressional counsel (d. 2004)
- 1927 - Lynn Cartwright, American actress (d. 2004)
- 1927 - Guy Mitchell, American singer (d. 1999)
- 1930 - Paul von Ragué Schleyer, American chemist
- 1930 - Peter Stone, American writer (d. 2003)
- 1930 - Joanne Woodward, American actress
- 1933 - Raymond Berry, American football player
- 1934 - N. Scott Momaday, American writer
- 1934 - Ralph Nader, American consumer activist
- 1934 - Van Williams, American actor
- 1936 - Ron Barassi, Australian rules footballer
- 1936 - Roger Mahony, fourth Archbishop of Los Angeles
- 1937 - David Ackles, American singer songwriter (d. 1999)
- 1937 - Barbara Babcock, American actress
- 1939 - Peter Revson, American racecar driver (d. 1974)
- 1940 - Howard Hesseman, American actor
- 1942 - Robert H. Grubbs, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1942 - Charlayne Hunter-Gault, American journalist
- 1943 - Mary Frann, American actress (d. 1998)
- 1943 - Morten Lauridsen, American composer
- 1944 - Ken Grimwood, American writer (d. 2003)
- 1945 - Carl Anderson, American singer and actor (d. 2004)
- 1954 - Neal Schon, American musician (Journey)
- 1959 - Johnny Van Zant, American singer (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
- 1962 - Adam Baldwin, American actor
- 1962 - Grant Show, American actor
- 1964 - Todd Bodine, American race car driver
- 1965 - Noah Emmerich, American actor
- 1969 - Brad Vander Ark, American musician
- 1970 - Michael A. Burstein, American writer
- 1971 - Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas, American singer (TLC)
- 1973 - Ali Tabatabaee, American Iranian rapper (Zebrahead)
- 1975 - Shelby Walker, American mixed martial artist (d. 2006)
- 1976 - Tony Gonzalez, American football player
- 1977 - Lance Hoyt, American professional wrestler
- 1980 - Bobby Valentino, American singer
- 1980 - Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Bill and Hillary Clinton
- 1981 - Josh Groban, American singer
- 1984 - David Noel, American basketball player
- 1986 - Nicole Linkletter, America's Next Top Model
- 1989 - Kelly Breeding, American singer from B5
Deaths
- 1659 - Henry Dunster, first President of Harvard College (b. 1609)
- 1844 - Nicholas Biddle, President of the Second Bank of the United States (b. 1786)
- 1936 - Joshua W. Alexander, U.S. Secretary of Commerce under Woodrow Wilson (b. 1852)
- 1941 - William D. Byron, U.S. Congressman (b. 1895)
- 1968 - Frankie Lymon, American singer (b. 1942)
- 1972 - Pat Brady, American actor and singer (b. 1914)
- 1977 - John Dickson Carr, American author (b. 1905)
- 1980 - George Tobias, American actor (b. 1901)
- 1981 - Jacob H. Gilbert, American politician (b. 1920)
- 1985 - Henry Cabot Lodge, American politician (b. 1902)
- 1990 - Nahum Norbert Glatzer, Jewish-American scholar (b. 1903)
- 1992 - S. I. Hayakawa, Canadian-American linguist and politician (b. 1906)
- 1993 - Lillian Gish, American actress (b. 1893)
- 1998 - George H. Hitchings, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1905)
- 1998 - J. T. Walsh, American actor (b. 1943)
- 2003 - Fred Rogers, American children's television actor (b. 1928)
- 2004 - Paul Sweezy, American economist and editor (b. 1910)
- 2006 - Otis Chandler, American newspaper publisher (b. 1927)
- 2006 - Robert Lee Scott, Jr., U.S. General, Flying Tiger, and author (b. 1908)
- 2007 - Bobby Rosengarden, American jazz drummer (b. 1924)