On this date...

Revolutionary War Era Marines

In 1674, Dutch Republic formally cedes New Netherland to England, who rename it New York

In 1766, The last Colonial governor of New Jersey, William Franklin, signs the charter of Queen's College (later renamed Rutgers University).

In 1775, A resolution proposed by John Adams that "two Battalions of Marines be raised" for service as landing forces in the recently formed Continental Navy, is passed by the Continental Congress. This resolution created the Continental Marines and is now observed as the birth date of the United States Marine Corps.

In 1775, In response to a skirmish at Letchmore’s Point yesterday, Washington commends Colonel William Thompson and his men for wading through icy water to engage the British, praising their courage. But he also warns that some soldiers hesitated to cross the causeway and may face consequences.

In 1801, Kentucky outlaws dueling.

In 1808, In a decision that would eventually make them one of the wealthiest surviving Native American nations, the Osage tribe agrees to abandon their lands in Missouri and Arkansas in exchange for a reservation in Oklahoma.

In 1836, Louis Napoleon banished to America.

In 1857, First American Chess Congress is won by Paul Morphy; beats Louis Paulson, 6-2 for a tournament record of 14 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss.

In 1865, Henry Wirz, a Swiss immigrant and the commander of Andersonville prison in Georgia, is hanged for the murder of soldiers incarcerated there during the Civil War.

In 1898, The multiracial Fusionist (Republican and Populist) city government of Wilmington, North Carolina, was violently overthrown, and as many as 60 Black Americans were killed in a premeditated murder spree that was the culmination of an organized months-long statewide campaign by white supremacists.

In 1903, The patent office awards U.S. Patent No. 743,801 to a Birmingham, Alabama woman named Mary Anderson for her “window cleaning device for electric cars and other vehicles to remove snow, ice or sleet from the window.”

In 1911, Andrew Carnegie forms Carnegie Corporation for scholarly and charitable works.

In 1940, Walt Disney serves as an informant for the Los Angeles office of the FBI, reporting information on Hollywood subversives.

In 1950, Nobel Prize for literature awarded to William Faulkner "for his powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel"

In 1954, the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial, depicting the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima in 1945, was dedicated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Arlington, Virginia.

In 1958, The Hope diamond, one of the largest blue diamonds known, was donated to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., becoming one of its most-popular attractions.

In 1969, The American children's TV series Sesame Street—which featured a cast of puppet characters that included Elmo, Big Bird, and the Cookie Monster—debuted on the National Educational Television network (later PBS).

In 1973, On November 10, 1973, newspapers report the burning of 36 copies of Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut.

In 1975, The American freighter Edmund Fitzgerald sank during a storm on Lake Superior, killing all 29 aboard; its mysterious demise inspired a Gordon Lightfoot song that helped make it the most famous shipwreck in the Great Lakes.

In 1983, Bill Gates announces Windows 1.0 to public.

In 1990, The American comedy Home Alone, written by John Hughes and starring Macaulay Culkin, had its world premiere; a huge hit, it spawned a number of sequels and became a TV staple during the Christmas holidays.

In 2001, In the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, President George W. Bush addresses the United Nations to ask for the international community’s help in combating terrorism around the world. He also pledged to take the fight against terrorism to any place where terrorists were harbored.

In 2012, The final US presidential election results are declared after Barack Obama wins Florida to defeat Mitt Romney 332-206 in Electoral College votes.

In 2014, American human-rights activist Ethel Kennedy is awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama.

In 2021, Kyle Rittenhouse took the stand in his murder trial, testifying that he was under attack and acting in self-defense when he shot and killed two men and wounded a third during a turbulent night of street protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (He would be acquitted of all charges.)