On this date...

Emma Goldman

In 1753, Pennsylvania Hospital, the first hospital in the United States, began admitting patients; it was cofounded by Benjamin Franklin.

In 1766, the Stamp Act was declared unconstitutional in Virginia.

In 1768, the Massachusetts Circular Letter of 1768, drafted by Samuel Adams, was sent by the Massachusetts House of Representatives to the other colonies' Houses of Assembly.

In 1776, Washington rides out early from Cambridge to inspect the frozen heights south of Boston. With him are Colonel Richard Gridley, the army’s chief engineer, and Colonel Henry Knox, commander of the Continental artillery, evaluating whether the newly arrived cannon can support fortifications there.

In 1805, Sacagawea, the Shoshone interpreter and guide to the Lewis and Clark expedition, gave birth to her first child, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau.

In 1808, Anthracite coal was first burned as fuel experimentally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

In 1809, American inventor Robert Fulton patented the steamboat.

In 1812, Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry signed a redistricting bill - first "gerrymander."

In 1837, the American Physiological Society was organized in Boston.

In 1842, the only recorded mutiny occurred on a vessel of the Texas Navy. Marines and sailors on the San Antonio were ordered to remain on the vessel anchored on the Mississippi near New Orleans. They began to mutiny and killed a lieutenant. Four of the mutineers were later executed, while three were flogged.

In 1861, US President-elect Abraham Lincoln traveled by train from Springfield, Illinois, to Washington, D.C.

In 1878, the Boston Bicycle Club, the first organization for recreational cyclists, was formed.

In 1903, the US Congress adopted the Expedition Act, which authorizes the Attorney General to 'expedite' anti-trust cases through the courts, reflecting growing popular support for President Theodore Roosevelt's "trust busting" campaign.

In 1916, Emma Goldman, a crusader for women’s rights and social justice, was arrested in New York City for lecturing and distributing materials about birth control. She was accused of violating the Comstock Act of 1873, which made it a federal offense to disseminate contraceptive devices and information through the mail or across state lines.

In 1918, US President Woodrow Wilson made another speech before Congress and announced 'the Four Principles' - freedom of navigation, an end to secret diplomacy, and similar items - that supplement his Fourteen Points.s

In 1937, a six-week-old sit-down strike against General Motors ended, with the company agreeing to recognize and negotiate with the United Auto Workers union.

In 1943, US General Eisenhower was selected to command the Allied armies in Europe; British General Montgomery was not pleased.

In 1945, the Yalta Conference between the Allied leaders of World War II came to a close. During the meeting, leaders planned the final defeat and occupation of Nazi Germany.

In 1953, President Eisenhower refused a clemency appeal for the Rosenbergs.

In 1958, Ruth Carol Taylor is 1st African-American woman hired as a flight attendant, Ithaca, NY.

In 1960, the Payola scandal reached a new level of public prominence and legal gravity when President Eisenhower called it an issue of public morality, and the FCC proposed a new law making involvement in Payola a criminal act.

In 1963, Julia Child's cooking show The French Chef debuted on Boston's public TV station as a regular series. Public television was rather dull at the time, but viewers were instantly charmed by Child's demeanor and warm energy. Though she made mistakes, Child did not bat an eye, and she embraced any missteps as part of the one-take filming process, which was all that the crew could afford at the time. By the end of 1965, The French Chef was airing on almost 100 stations across the country as an instant classic.

In 1974, US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger unveiled the Nixon Administration's seven-point "Project Independence" plan to make the U.S. energy independent.

In 1993, President Clinton selected Janet Reno to be the first female US Attorney General.

In 2006, US Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and injured Harry Whittington while on a quail hunt on a ranch in Riviera, Texas.

In 2008, the Pentagon charged Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and five other detainees at Guantanamo Bay with murder and war crimes in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks.

In 2009, Democrat John Dingell of Michigan became the longest-serving member of the U.S. House of Representatives with more than 53 years of service.

In 2021, US President Joe Biden rescinded the national emergency order used by Donald Trump to fund the border wall with Mexico.