On this date...

Ethan Allen

In 1639, First printing press in America set up in Cambridge under the guaranty of Harvard College.

In 1690, Publick Occurrences, the first newspaper in the American colonies (Boston), publishes its first and last edition because the publisher did not obtain a license to print.

In 1775, After aborting a poorly planned and ill-timed attack on the British-controlled city of Montreal, Continental Army Colonel Ethan Allen is captured by the British. After being identified as an officer of the Continental Amy, Allen was taken prisoner and sent to England to be executed. Although Allen ultimately escaped execution because the British government feared reprisals from the American colonies, he was imprisoned in England for more than two years until being returned to the United States on May 6, 1778, as part of a prisoner exchange.

In 1775, From his Cambridge headquarters, Washington issues detailed orders to regulate furloughs, streamlining a system that has burdened his top officers. No more than two privates or one non-commissioned officer per company may be absent at once, and officers must go through a formal chain of command to receive leave.

In 1777, Philadelphia, then the American capital, was occupied by British forces during the American Revolution.

In 1780, American army officer Benedict Arnold defects to the British.

In 1789, the U.S. Congress passed 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, calling them the Bill of Rights. Of those, 10 were ratified by the states within two years. Of the remaining two, one was eventually ratified in 1992 while the other has been left to gather dust.

In 1875, Billy the Kid escapes jail in Silver City, New Mexico, by climbing out of a chimney and becomes a fugitive.

In 1890, faced with the imminent destruction of their church and way of life, religious leaders reluctantly issue the “Mormon Manifesto” in which they command all Latter-day Saints to uphold the anti-polygamy laws of the nation.

In 1890, Sequoia National Park is established by US President Benjamin Harrison as California's first national park and the country's second.

In 1894, President Grover Cleveland issues a presidential proclamation pardoning followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as Mormons) who had previously engaged in polygamous marriages or habitation arrangements considered unlawful by the U.S. government.

In 1912, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is founded in New York City.

In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson collapsed after a speech in Pueblo, Colo., during a tour in support of the Treaty of Versailles.

In 1926, Henry Ford announces an 8-hour, 5-day workweek for workers at Ford Motor Company.

In 1928, Chicago’s new Galvin Manufacturing Corporation is officially incorporated.

In 1949, Evangelist Billy Graham begins his "Los Angeles Crusade" in a circus tent erected in a parking lot.

In 1956, the first trans-Atlantic telephone cable officially went into service with a three-way ceremonial call between New York, Ottawa and London.

In 1959, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev caps his trip to the United States with two days of meetings with President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

In 1957, The Little Rock Nine integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.

In 1981, Sandra Day O'Connor was sworn in as the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 2011, Two American hikers held for more than two years in an Iranian prison, returned to the United States.

In 2013, skipper Jimmy Spithill and Oracle Team USA won the America’s Cup with one of the greatest comebacks in sports history, speeding past Dean Barker and Emirates Team New Zealand in the winner-take-all Race 19 on San Francisco Bay.