On this date...

George Washington

In 1630, Massachusetts village of Shawmut changes its name to Boston.

In 775, Governor Lord Dunmore of Virginia, takes offense to the seditious comments about his person and administration, published by John Hunter Holt of Norfolk. Dunmore sent a detachment of sailors and soldiers to confiscate Holt's press, printing materials and even Holt if possible.

In 1776, In a letter to his nephew, Lund Washington, plantation manager of Mount Vernon, General George Washington writes of his displeasure with the undisciplined conduct and poor battlefield performance of the American militia. Washington blamed the Patriot reliance on the militia as the chief root of his problems in the devastating loss of Long Island and Manhattan to the British.

In 1777, the Continental Congress — forced to flee in the face of advancing British forces — moved to York, Pennsylvania.

In 1788, The Pennsylvania Legislature elected the first two members of the U.S. Senate - William Maclay of Harrisburg and Robert Morris of Philadelphia.

In 1822, Joseph Marion Hernández becomes the first Hispanic to be elected to the United States Congress. Born a Spanish citizen, Hernández would die in Cuba, but in between he became the first Hispanic American to serve at the highest levels of any of three branches of the American federal government.

In 1846, Anesthetic ether is used for the first time by American dentist Dr. William Morton to extract a tooth.

In 1857, US occupies Sand, Baker, Howland, and Jarvis Islands, south of Hawaii.

In 1862, First Battle of Newtonia (American Civil War), Newton County, Missouri.

In 1864, Battle of Preble's Farm Virginia (Poplar Springs Church).

In 1868, The first volume of Louisa May Alcott’s book Little Women is published.

In 1869, Gov. Elisha Pease resigned from office in protest over the policies and actions of federal Reconstruction authorities. Having been elected governor twice (in 1853 and 1855), Pease was a pro-slavery Unionist during the Civil War. In 1867, he was appointed the civil governor of Texas by the federal government. His own policies, though, often put him at odds with the defeated Confederates, Texas Republicans, and the Union authorities.

In 1880, American amateur astronomer Henry Draper takes the first photograph of the Orion Nebula.

In 1889, the Wyoming state convention approves a constitution that includes a provision granting women the right to vote. Formally admitted into the union the following year, Wyoming thus became the first state in the history of the nation to allow its female citizens to vote.

In 1895, Stephen Crane's novel "The Red Badge of Courage" is published to wide acclaim.

In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson gives a speech before Congress in support of guaranteeing women the right to vote. Although the House of Representatives had approved a 19th constitutional amendment giving women suffrage, the Senate had yet to vote on the measure.

In 1919, Elaine Massacre: Arkansas state militia and rioters kill over 200 Black people in response to sharecroppers' attempt to organize against landowners; trials of survivors for murder lead to Supreme Court-enacted judicial reforms.

In 1927, Babe Ruth is first player to hit 60 home runs in a season.

In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates the Boulder Dam, now known as Hoover Dam, on Colorado-Nevada border. The highest dam in the world at that time, its construction claimed the lives of 96 workers.

In 1939, NBC broadcast the first televised football game, a college matchup between Fordham and Waynesburg; Fordham won 34-7.

In 1942, Admiral Chester Nimitz's B-17 finds Guadalcanal using a National Geographic map

In 1947, the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 5-3, in Game 1 of the World Series—the first Fall Classic game broadcast on television.

In 1953, Earl Warren appointed Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court

In 1954, The USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear-powered vessel, was commissioned by the U.S. Navy.

In 1961, Bill for Boston Tea Party is paid by Mayor Snyder of Oregon, who writes a check for $196, the total cost of all tea lost

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy authorizes federal troops to integrate University of Mississippi.

In 1962, activists Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta establish the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA).

In 1980, Ethernet specifications are published by Xerox in collaboration with Intel and Digital Equipment Corporation.