On this date...

Nicholas Cooke, RI Governor

In 1635, the Boston Grammar School (later the Boston Latin School), open to all boys regardless of social class, was founded as the first public school in what would become the United States; it set a precedent for tax-supported public education.

In 1775, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress voted to raise a volunteer force of 13,600 men.

In 1776, South Carolina Indicts the King for Actions Against the Colonies.

In 1776, in a letter to John Hancock, Washington airs a concern: His aides-de-camp are overworked, underpaid, and confined from morning until evening by an endless stream of letters, visitors, and orders. He fears that unless Congress improves their situation, he will lose men whose experience has become indispensable. 

In 1776, Nicholas Cooke, Rhode Island’s governor, describes the colony’s financial strain in defending its long coastline and the urgent need to fortify Newport. He asks Washington to send an engineer to assist with the works.

In 1778, at 8 am, John Paul Jones, with 30 volunteers from his ship, the Continental ship Ranger, launched a surprise attack on the two harbor forts at Whitehaven, England.

In 1789, President-elect George Washington arrived in New York City to prepare for his inauguration as President of the United States. He and Martha also moved into Franklin House, New York, the first official residence of a US President.

In 1860, the Democratic convention in Charleston, South Carolina, divided over slavery.

In 1861, Arkansas troops seized Fort Smith on the Arkansas River

In 1914, Wrigley Field (then known as Weeghman Park) hosted its first Major League Baseball game; the stadium later became the home of the Chicago Cubs.

In 1931, the film classic The Public Enemy was released in American theaters, and James Cagney's landmark performance as a gangster made him a star.

In 1940, over 200 people trapped inside a dance hall died in the Rhythm Club Fire in Natchez, Mississippi, one of the deadliest nightclub fires in U.S. history.

In 1968, Leftist students at Columbia University in New York City began a weeklong occupation of several campus buildings.

In 1969, Sirhan Sirhan was sentenced to death for killing US Senator Robert F. Kennedy (later commuted to a life sentence)

In 1971, hundreds of Vietnam War veterans opposed to the conflict protested by tossing their medals and ribbons over a wire fence constructed in front of the U.S. Capitol.

In 1984, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Margaret Heckler announced that researchers had found what was believed to be the virus that causes AIDS; the infectious agent was later named HIV.

On this day in 1986, the Coca-Cola Company introduced New Coke, a reformulated soft drink meant to replace its flagship beverage and boost sales at the expense of its rival Pepsi. Public outrage ensued, however, and even the company's own bottlers rebelled. Just 79 days later, old Coke—now called Coca-Cola Classic—went back on sale. New Coke was discontinued in 2002.

In 1988, a federal ban on smoking during domestic airline flights of two hours or less (accounting for 80% of all U.S. flights) went into effect.

In 1989, Wine merchant William Sokolin broke a bottle of 1787 Château Margaux, possibly belonging to Thomas Jefferson, worth $500,000, at the Four Seasons restaurant in New York

In 2005, the first video was uploaded on YouTube.

In 2010, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed the nation's toughest illegal immigration measure into law.

In 2013, a 1% flash crash hit the US stock market after a news agency was hacked and claimed an injury to President Obama.

In 2015, Loretta Lynch was confirmed by a US Senate vote, 56-43, as the first African-American woman to serve as US Attorney-General, succeeding Eric Holder.

In 2020, US President Donald Trump suggested studying if COVID-19 could be treated by introducing disinfectant or UV lights into the human body, during a White House press briefing; government officials and disinfectant companies quickly stated that doing so is not only extremely dangerous but potentially deadly

In 2021, shortly after launch, astronauts in a SpaceX capsule headed to the International Space Station were told to put on their spacesuits as a precaution against a possible collision with space debris. (U.S. Space Command, which was responsible for the warning, later claimed it was an error and that the astronauts were never at risk.)