On this date...

Montgomery, Washington, and Arnold

In 1662, the first American lime kiln began operation in Providence, Rhode Island.

In 1776, the HMS Cruizer was ordered to sail up the Cape Fear River, but turned back when it saw the impressive defensive breastworks of the city. The HMS Cruizer attempted to land a raiding party but was forced to abandon it after receiving rifle fire from both sides of the river. The ship was continually fired upon until it left the river area.

In 1776, Colonel Henry Knox’s “noble train of artillery” arrived in Cambridge, outside of Boston. However, there is some dispute as to when it arrived among historians.

In 1776, Washington writes to Benedict Arnold, his tone heavy with grief and resolve. He mourns Montgomery’s death, fears for Arnold’s wounds, and presses a truth he cannot soften: Canada is decisive. If Quebec falls to the Americans this winter, the cause of independence gains its strongest advantage.

In 1778, Marines landed at New Providence, Bahamas; the American flag flew over foreign soil for the first time.

In 1785, the Georgia General Assembly incorporated the University of Georgia, the first state-funded institution of higher learning in the new republic.

In 1825, Congress approved the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), clearing the way for the forced relocation of the Eastern Indians on the “Trail of Tears.”

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued General War Order No. 1, ordering all land and sea forces to advance on February 22, 1862. This bold move sent a message to his commanders that the president was tired of excuses and delays in seizing the offensive against Confederate forces.

In 1870, the first sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, was founded at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana

In 1880, American inventor Thomas Edison patented the incandescent lamp.

In 1888, the National Geographic Society was incorporated in Washington, D.C., for “the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge.”

In 1900, the Social Democrat Party of America (Debs' party) holds 1st convention.

In 1943, future President Ronald Reagan, an Army Air Corps first lieutenant during World War II, was on an active-duty assignment with the Army’s First Motion Picture Unit.

In 1943, 8th Air Force bombers, dispatched from their bases in England, flew the first American bombing raid against the Germans, targeting the Wilhelmshaven port.

In 1951, forcefully marking the continued importance of the West in the development of nuclear weaponry, the government detonated the first of a series of nuclear bombs at its new Nevada test site.

In 1964, US Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine announced her bid for the Republican presidential nomination

In 1966, Wisconsin State Circuit Court Judge Elmer W Roller ruled that either the Braves stay in Milwaukee, or NL must promise Wisconsin an expansion team for 1966

In 1965, the Shelby GT 350, a version of a Ford Mustang sports car developed by the American auto racer and car designer Carroll Shelby, was launched.

In 1967, during a simulation of a launch, U.S. astronauts Virgil I. Grissom, Edward H. White, and Roger B. Chaffee died in a fire aboard Apollo 1.

In 1973, the Paris Peace Accords, formally ending the Vietnam War, were signed, providing for an exchange of prisoners and for the unilateral withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Vietnam, although fighting continued until 1975.

In 1976, the first episode of the sitcom Laverne & Shirley, a spin-off of Happy Days, aired on ABC. It starred Cindy Williams and Penny Marshall, who later became one of the first women to achieve consistent commercial success as a movie director.

In 1978, Richard Chase, who became known as the “Dracula Killer,” murdered Evelyn Miroth and Daniel Meredith, as well as Miroth’s 6-year-old son and another woman, in Sacramento, California.

In 1984, in a freak accident, pop star Michael Jackson's hair caught fire after sparks from a fireworks display showered him during filming of a cola commercial. Jackson, who was singing his hit “Billie Jean,” suffered 2nd-degree burns.

In 1988, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the nomination of Judge Anthony Kennedy to the US Supreme Court

In 1992, a judge in the murder trial of porn producer Jim Mitchell allowed the first-ever use of a video re-creation of the crime.

In 1992, Mike Tyson went on trial for rape (he was found guilty).

In 1992, Presidential candidate Bill Clinton (D) & Genifer Flowers accused each other of lying over her assertionthat they had a 12-year affair.

In 1993, American Chad Rowan became the first non-Japanese wrestler to reach the “yokozuna” rank, the highest in sumo.

In 1998, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, appearing on NBC's "Today" show, said that allegations against her husband were the work of a "vast right-wing conspiracy."

In 2010, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad tablet computer during a presentation in San Francisco.

In 2017, President Donald Trump barred all refugees from entering the United States for four months, declaring the ban necessary to prevent “radical Islamic terrorists” from entering the country.

In 2025, James McHenry, the acting US Attorney General, fires more than a dozen prosecutors who worked on special counsel Jack Smith's prosecution of Donald Trump.