On this date...

Montgomery Bus Boycott

In 1492, Christopher Columbus lands on and names the island of Hispaniola. Convinced he has reached the Indies and found the gold-rich biblical land of Ophir, he has in fact done neither.

In 1775, Colonel Henry Knox writes from Fort George, New York. Knox reports he has reached the edge of Lake George and begun preparations to haul captured British artillery from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston. He lists the cannon and mortars in careful detail but admits the journey will depend on the weather.

In 1776, In Williamsburg, Virginia, a group of five students at the College of William and Mary gather at Raleigh’s Tavern to found a new fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa. Intended to follow strictly American principles as opposed to those of England or Germany, the new society engaged in the fervent political debate typical of student life at the college in Virginia’s capital.

In 1792, George Washington was re-elected president and John Adams was re-elected vice president.

In 1831, Former President John Quincy Adams took his seat as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

In 1848, In his annual message to Congress, U.S. President James K. Polk confirmed the discovery of gold in California, helping to spark the Gold Rush, which brought an estimated 300,000 people to the territory.

In 1872, The American ship Mary Celeste was found abandoned some 400 nautical miles (740 km) from the Azores, Portugal; the fate of the 10 people aboard remains a mystery.

In 1873, The Boston Belfry Murderer kills his first victim, Bridget Landregan. Landregan is found beaten and strangled to death in the Boston suburb of Dorchester. According to witnesses, a man in black clothes and a flowing cape attempted to sexually assault the dead girl before running away.

In 1876, A fire at the Brooklyn Theater in New York kills nearly 300 people and injures hundreds more. Some victims perished from a combination of burns and smoke inhalation; others were trampled to death in the general panic that ensued.

In 1933, 21st Amendment ratified in the US, repealing the nationwide ban on alcohol.

In 1947, Joe Louis defended his heavyweight boxing title against challenger Jersey Joe Walcott in New York City.

In 1955,  Montgomery Bus Boycott begins.

In 1955, The American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) became a united body of autonomous labour unions, with George Meany as its first president.

In 1964, The first Medal of Honor awarded to a U.S. serviceman for action in Vietnam is presented to Capt. Roger Donlon of Saugerties, New York, for his heroic action earlier in the year.

In 1994, Republicans chose Newt Gingrich to be the first GOP speaker of the House in four decades.

In 1996, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan questioned whether the stock market was overvalued due to investors' "irrational exuberance."

In 2002, Senate Republican leader Trent Lott praised Strom Thurmond's pro-segregation 1948 presidential campaign. The ensuing uproar led to Lott's resignation from the Senate leadership.

In 2006, New York became the first city in the nation to ban artery-clogging trans fats at restaurants.

In 2008, A judge in Las Vegas sentenced O.J. Simpson to 33 years in prison (with eligibility for parole after nine) for an armed robbery at a hotel room.

In 2017, Democratic congressman John Conyers of Michigan resigned from Congress after a nearly 53-year career, becoming the first Capitol Hill politician to lose his job amid the sexual misconduct allegations sweeping through the nation’s workplaces.

In 2019, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that she had asked the relevant House committee chairs to begin drawing up articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, saying his actions left them “no choice” but to act swiftly. (Trump would be impeached by the House on charges of obstruction and abuse of power, but the Senate voted to acquit in the first of two Trump impeachment trials.)