On this date....

Andrew Jackson

In 1733, James Oglethorpe and some 120 English colonists arrived at Charleston, South Carolina, while en route to settle in present-day Georgia.

In 1776, writing to the Massachusetts General Court, Washington exposed the army’s mounting crisis. Far fewer arms have been collected from discharged soldiers at year’s end than expected, and nearly all of those have already been reissued to recruits. He urges Massachusetts to gather arms from towns immediately.

In 1776, British ships HMS Glasgow & Swan raided Prudence Island, Rhode Island, in an attempt to resupply their food stores.

In 1794, President George Washington signed the Flag Act of 1794, changing the U.S. flag to 15 stripes as well as 15 stars to reflect the first two states admitted after the original 13 colonies: Vermont (1791) and Kentucky (1792)

In 1833, President Andrew Jackson wrote to Vice President Martin Van Buren expressing his opposition to South Carolina’s defiance of federal authority. He closed with the assertion, “nothing must be permitted to weaken our government at home or abroad.”

In 1873, P. B. S. Pinchback relinquished the office of Louisiana Governor

In 1903, the RMS Gaelic arrived in Honolulu, bringing with it the first Korean immigrants to the United States. The Hawaiian Star called the 102 newcomers “a possible solution for the problem of labor on plantations,” foreshadowing the difficult lives that await them in the recently acquired U.S. territory.

In 1929, the Humanist Society was established in Hollywood, California

In 1939, Arthur “Doc” Barker was killed while trying to escape from Alcatraz Prison in San Francisco Bay. Barker, of the notorious “Bloody Barkers” gang, was spotted on the rock-strewn shore of the island after climbing over the walls. Even though guards were ordering him to surrender, Barker continued tying pieces of wood together into a makeshift raft. As he waded into the water, the guards shot and killed him.

In 1941, a new law went into effect, granting Puerto Ricans U.S. birthright citizenship.

In 1942, American industrialist Henry Ford patented plastic automobile construction.

In 1962, Chubby Checker's song "The Twist", credited with starting the Twist dance craze, went to #1 on the charts two years after first reaching the number one spot

In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed the first African American cabinet member, making Robert C. Weaver head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the agency that develops and implements national housing policy and enforces fair housing laws.

In 1968, Johnny Cash recorded the album Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison in front of an audience of some 2,000 inmates. Its success helped Cash to reestablish himself as one of country music's most relevant artists, and he followed it with Johnny Cash at San Quentin in 1969.

In 1975, US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger hinted at military action against oil countries in case of "actual strangulation of the industrialized world" in the wake of oil shock

In 1982, an Air Florida Boeing 737-222 plunged into the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., killing 78 people. The crash, caused by severe weather, occurred only two miles from the White House.

In 1986, NCAA schools voted to adopt Proposition 48, a controversial regulation that mandates minimum high school grades and scores on standardized college entrance exams for student-athletes to participate in sports as freshmen.

In 1989, New York City subway gunman Bernhard H. Goetz was sentenced to one year in prison for possessing an unlicensed gun that he used to shoot four youths he said were about to rob him.

In 1990, Douglas Wilder was sworn in as the governor of Virginia, making him the first popularly elected African American governor in the United States.

In 1992, Japan apologized for forcing tens of thousands of Korean women to serve as sex slaves for its soldiers during World War II, citing newly uncovered documents that showed the Japanese army had had a role in abducting the so-called “comfort women.”

In 2000, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates stepped aside as chief executive.

In 2002, the off-Broadway musical "The Fantasticks" ended a run of nearly 42 years and 17,162 performances.

In 2021, Donald Trump became the first U.S. president to be impeached twice, after the House of Representatives approved an article of impeachment that accused him of encouraging his supporters to storm the Capitol in an effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Trump was acquitted by the Senate.

In 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom blocked Robert F. Kennedy's assassin Sirhan Sirhan's release on parole after 53 years in jail.

In 2024, an

Arctic blast affects large parts of the US, with 44 million people under a winter weather advisory; Chester, Montana, registers the continental US record low of 54 degrees below zero.