On this date...

Sir Archibald Campbell, British Lt. Col at Battle of Savannah

In 1775, In his General Orders, Washington delivers news: Congress has sent far less money than expected. Only one month’s pay can be distributed, as remaining funds must cover advance pay for the new army and other expenses. He also orders that no discharged men may leave camp with ammunition.

In 1778, British Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell and his force of between 2,500 and 3,600 troops, which included the 71st Highland regiment, New York Loyalists, and Hessian mercenaries, launch a surprise attack on American forces defending Savannah, Georgia.

In 1813, British burn Buffalo, New York during War of 1812.

In 1835, Treaty of New Echota is signed between the US government and representatives of a minority Cherokee political faction, ceding all Cherokee lands east of the Mississippi River to the United States.

In 1837, Steam-powered threshing machine patented in Winthrop, Maine.

In 1845, the U.S. Congress voted to annex the Republic of Texas after offering statehood nearly a year earlier. In June of 1845, the Texas Congress voted to accept the offer and craft a state constitution; a popular vote ratified both in the fall.

In 1851, Young man, there’s no need to feel down, as the first YMCA in the US opens at the Old South Church in Boston. Today, you can get yourself clean and have a good meal at almost 2,700 locations nationwide.

In 1852, Emma Snodgrass was arraigned in Boston because she was a woman wearing trousers. This was a time when activists were calling for “rational dress” for women, including bloomers and trousers, as an alternative to long, bulky skirts.

In 1862, Battle of Chickasaw Bayou: Confederate defenders under John C. Pemberton repel an advance by a numerically superior Union force under William T. Sherman, inflicting heavy casualties near Vicksburg, Mississippi.

In 1865, Abolitionist crusader William Lloyd Garrison published the last issue of The Liberator.

In 1867, First telegraph ticker used by a brokerage house in Groesbeck & Co., New York.

In 1876, 11 train passenger cars crash in a ravine near Ashtabula, Ohio, 92 die.

In 1890, US Army kills over 250 Lakota people at Wounded Knee.

In 1908, Patent granted for a 4-wheel automobile brake, Clintonville, Wisconsin.

In 1933, New York Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert refuses to release future Baseball Hall of Fame slugger Babe Ruth to manage the Cincinnati Reds.

In 1938, Construction on Lake Washington Floating Bridge, Seattle, begins

In 1970, Occupational Safety and Health Act (United States) signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon.

In 1978, during the Gator Bowl, Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes punched Clemson player Charlie Bauman, who’d intercepted an Ohio State pass. (Hayes was fired the next day.)

In 1999, The Nasdaq composite index closed above 4,000 for the first time, ending the day at 4,041.46.

In 2007, The New England Patriots became the first NFL team in 35 years to finish the regular season undefeated when they beat the New York Giants 38-35 to go 16-0.

In 2016, US President Barack Obama retaliates against Russia for hacking American computer systems and trying to influence the 2016 presidential election by ejecting 35 Russian spies and imposing sanctions.

In 2021, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted in New York of helping lure teenage girls to be sexually abused by the late Jeffrey Epstein; the verdict capped a monthlong trial featuring accounts of the sexual exploitation of girls as young as 14. (Maxwell would be sentenced to 20 years in prison.)