On this date...

Jack Johnson

In 1767, The Mason-Dixon Line was formally agreed upon when Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon completed their survey of the border between Pennsylvania and Maryland. This date marked the acceptance of their work as the official boundary, resolving a long-standing dispute between the two colonies.

In 1775, Washington gathers his top officers for a Council of War. Congress has urged him to consider an attack on British-occupied Boston before winter sets in. His generals carefully weigh the army’s readiness. One by one, they advise against it. Supplies are low, the harbor is fortified, and the risk is too great.

In 1775, African-American poet Phillis Wheatley is freed from slavery.

In 1775, To punish them for supporting the Patriots, British ships bombarded and set fire to Falmouth, Maine, destroying the majority of the town.

In 1776, In a bar decorated with bird tail in Elmsford, New York, a customer requests a glassful of “those cock tails” from bartender Betsy Flanagan

In 1781, YORKTOWN, In the afternoon, negotiations began at the Augustine Moore House between Lt. Col. Thomas Dundas and Major Alexander Ross (who represented the British) and Lt. Col. John Laurens (who represented the Americans) and the Second Colonel Viscount de Noailles (Marquis de Lafayette's brother-in-law) who represented the French.

In 1805, 45 women meet at Mrs. Silas Lee's home in Wiscasset, Maine, and organize the Female Charitable Society, one of the earliest women's clubs in America.

In 1851, American author Herman Melville's classic novel Moby Dick was first published (as The Whale), in London.

In 1867, After much opposition, a deal negotiated by U.S. Secretary of State William Seward for the U.S. purchase of the Russian colony of Alaska was approved, and on this day in 1867 the U.S. flag was flown over the capital, Sitka.

In 1892, The first long distance telephone line between Chicago and New York was opened.

In 1898, Puerto Rico was turned over to the United States following the Spanish-American War.

In 1912, Black boxer Jack Johnson is arrested for violating the Mann Act for "transporting women across state lines for immoral purposes" due to his relationship with a white woman, Lucille Cameron, who is allegedly a prostitute; he is later convicted by an all-white jury and sentenced to a year in prison

In 1921, Charles Strite is granted US patent #1,394,450 for his invention, the automatic pop-up toaster.

In 1933, the American philosopher-inventor R. Buckminster Fuller applies for a patent for his Dymaxion Car. The Dymaxion—the word itself was another Fuller invention, a combination of “dynamic,” “maximum,” and “ion”—looked and drove like no vehicle anyone had ever seen.

In 1954, Texas Instruments unveiled the Regency TR-1, the first commercially produced transistor radio.

In 1962, Dr. James D. Watson of the United States and Dr. Francis Crick and Dr. Maurice Wilkins of Britain were named winners of the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology for their work in determining the double-helix molecular structure of DNA.

In 1968, American Bob Beamon shattered the previous long jump world record by nearly two feet, leaping 29 feet, 2 1/4 inches (8.90 meters) at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

In 1968, the United States Olympic Committee suspended two black athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, for giving a "black power" salute as a protest during a victory ceremony in Mexico City.

In 1972, The Clean Water Act becomes law. After centuries of reckless treatment of American rivers, streams, lakes and bays, the landmark act institutes strict regulations on pollution and quality controls for the nation’s waters for the first time in its history.

In 1976, Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded to American William Lipscomb.

In 1977, Reggie Jackson hit three home runs in Game 6 of the World Series to lead the New York Yankees to an 8-4 win and a 4-2 Series victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers; his success in the Fall Classic earned him the nickname “Mr. October.”

In 1986, In a short-lived victory for the Nicaraguan policy of the Reagan administration, the President signs into law an act of Congress approving $100 million of military and “humanitarian” aid for the Contras.

In 2001, Four defendants were convicted in New York for the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.

In 2018, President Donald Trump threatened to close the U.S. border with Mexico if authorities could not stop a caravan of migrants making their way from Central America.

In 2019, Astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch conduct first all-female spacewalk.