On this date...

Zebulon Pike

In 4977 B.C., the universe was created—at least according to the calculations of the famed astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler, who is better known for his theories explaining the motion of planets.

In 1773, in London, the House of Commons passed the Tea Bill, designed to save the British East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the North American tea trade.

In 1776, correspondence poured in and out of Washington’s headquarters on Broadway. He condemns recent riots by soldiers in New York, promising severe punishment. Captain Henry Miller, on Long Island, reports a suspicious sloop slipping past American sentries and reaching the British warship Asia, reinforcing fears of covert communication with the enemy. 

In 1776, Continental officers proposed a signal system of flags and fires from New Jersey and Staten Island to alert the army and militia to the approach of British ships.

In 1777, at the Battle of Ridgefield, a British invasion force engages and defeats Continental Army regulars and militia irregulars at Ridgefield, Connecticut.

In 1805, after marching 500 miles from Egypt, U.S. agent William Eaton led a small force of U.S. Marines and Berber mercenaries against the Tripolitan port city of Derna. The Marines and Berbers were on a mission to depose Yusuf Karamanli, the ruling pasha of Tripoli, who had seized power from his brother, Hamet Karamanli, a pasha who was sympathetic to the United States.

In 1813, the Battle of York took place in Upper Canada during the War of 1812 as U.S. forces defeated the British garrison in present-day Toronto; U.S. Brigadier General Zebulon Pike and 37 other American soldiers were killed near the end of the battle when retreating British forces exploded the ammunition magazine of Fort York as the Americans approached.

In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln instructed General Winfield Scott to suspend habeas corpus as necessary to keep vital transport and supply lines clear in Maryland. This action kicks off a legal dispute with the Supreme Court.

In 1861, Confederate General Robert E. Lee orders Colonel Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson to take command of Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

In 1861, West Virginia secedes from Virginia after Virginia secedes from the Union (US Civil War)

In 1865, the worst maritime disaster in U.S. history occurred when a boiler exploded on the overloaded steamship SS Sultana as it sailed the Mississippi River, killing some 1,800 people, many of whom were former Union POWs returning home from the Civil War.

In 1897, President Grant’s Tomb was dedicated. Ironically, it was also his birthday.

In 1942, sugar became the first household staple rationed as part of the US war effort. The government issues ration books with tear-out stamps allowing every American, kids included, to buy 26 pounds of sugar per year.

In 1947, "Babe Ruth Day" was held at Yankee Stadium to honor the ailing baseball star.

In 1972, Apollo 16 returned to Earth after a manned voyage to the moon.

In 1981, the Xerox Star personal computer, developed by Xerox PARC, debuted and included the first mouse sold to consumers. (The mouse had been invented by Douglas Engelbart decades earlier, in 1963–64, when he built a device with a carved wood casing and a button to navigate a display screen.)

In 1982, John W. Hinckley Jr. went on trial in Washington, D.C., in the shooting of President Ronald Reagan. (He was acquitted by reason of insanity.)

In 1998, a Pentagon panel said remains of the Vietnam veteran in the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery should be exhumed to determine whether they belonged to Air Force 1st Lt. Michael J. Blassie, as his family believed. The remains were later positively identified as Blassie’s.

In 2006, construction began on a 1,776-foot building at the World Trade Center site in New York City.

In 2009, the struggling American auto giant General Motors (GM) said it plans to discontinue production of its more than 80-year-old Pontiac brand.

In 2011, during the four-day 2011 Super Outbreak, 112 tornadoes touched down across the southeastern United States, killing 319 in the deadliest day of tornadoes in the U.S. since 1925.

In 2012, the space shuttle Enterprise, mounted atop a jumbo jet, sailed over the New York City skyline on its final flight before going on display as part of the USS Intrepid Museum.

In 2015, rioters plunged part of Baltimore into chaos, torching a pharmacy, setting police cars ablaze, and throwing bricks at officers hours after thousands attended a funeral service for Freddie Gray, a Black man who died from a severe spinal injury he’d suffered in police custody.

In 2022, SpaceX launched its Crew Dragon capsule with four astronauts, including Jessica Watkins, who became the first Black woman to serve a long-duration mission on the International Space Station.

In 2023, Former Vice President Mike Pence appears before the federal grand jury investigating President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.