On this date...

Willis Carrier - hero of every southern summer

In 1773, Three Charleston, South Carolina Merchants were forced to go down to the docks and drop the “illegal” tea they ordered into the harbor, thirteen days before Boston’s “party”.

In 1775, In his General Orders, Washington expresses “surprise and astonishment” that several Connecticut soldiers could abandon their duty so close to the end of their enlistment. He sends an express to Governor Jonathan Trumbull with their names so they can be punished “in a manner suited to the ignominy of their behavior.”

In 1775, The USS Alfred, with Captain Dudley Saltonstall in command, was commissioned in Philadelphia and becomes the first vessel to fly the "Grand Union Flag"

In 1780, new appointed Brigadier General Daniel Morgan reported to Major General Nathanael Greene’s Headquarters near Charlotte Town, North Carolina.

In 1818, Illinois became the twenty-first state in the Union.

In 1828, Andrew Jackson was elected the seventh president of the United States.

In 1835, First US mutual fire insurance company issues first policy (Rhode Island)

In 1847, Escaped slave-turned-abolitionist Frederick Douglass publishes his first antislavery newspaper, The North Star. The title referred to Polaris, the bright star that helped guide those fleeing slavery to the North—and freedom.

In 1863, Confederate General James Longstreet abandons his siege at Knoxville, Tennessee.

In 1868, Lawyers for Confederate President Jefferson Davis argue before US judges Salmon Chase and John Underwood to have treason charges dismissed as unconstitutional double jeopardy.

In 1911, Willis Carrier presents his influential "Rational Psychrometric Formulae", on air conditioning to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers - makes air conditioning possible.

In 1942, Scientists achieve first human-made, self-sustaining nuclear reaction.

In 1948, The House Un-American Activities Committee announced that former Communist spy Whittaker Chambers had produced microfilm of secret documents hidden inside a pumpkin on his Maryland farm.

In 1953, US President Dwight Eisenhower criticizes Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy for saying communists are in the Republican Party

In 1964, Police arrested some 800 students at the University of California at Berkeley who had stormed the administration buildingthe previous day and staged a massive sit-in.

In 1967, The 20th Century Limited, the famed luxury train, completed its final run from New York City to Chicago.

In 1968, Elvis Presley's Comeback Special airs on NBC, his first live performance in seven years, relaunching his singing career

In 1979, the last Pacer rolls off the assembly line at the American Motors Corporation (AMC) factory in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

In 1992, the first SMS text message in history is sent: Neil Papworth, a 22-year-old engineer, uses a personal computer to send the text message “Merry Christmas” via the Vodafone network to the phone of a colleague.

In 2015, Defense Secretary Ash Carter ordered the armed services to open all military jobs to women, removing the final barriers that had kept women from serving in combat.

In 2019, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin announce they are stepping down from roles at parent company Alphabet, Sundar Pichai to become head of both.

In 2022, Former US President Donald Trump calls in a Truth Social post for the "termination" of all rules, including the US Constitution, to overturn the 2020 election, which he again falsely claims that he won.