On this date...

Major General Benjamin Lincoln

In 1776, in his General Orders, Washington directs that the carpenters, boat builders, and painters parade at sunrise tomorrow morning to receive further instructions. These skilled artisans are essential to turning New York into a defensible position.

In 1776, Ensign Peter Clayes, an officer guarding prisoners at the old City Hall, writes after a mob delivers Charles Oliver Bruff, a New York goldsmith suspected of Loyalism, into custody. Clayes, alarmed by the tumult, asks Washington for instructions.

In 1780, during the American Revolution, Major General Benjamin Lincoln of the Continental Army surrendered his 7,000 troops at Charleston, South Carolina, to the British.

In 1784, the ratified copies of the Treaty of Paris were exchanged between the United States and Great Britain.

In 1846, the ill-fated Donner Party left Independence, Missouri, for California. Months later, the group became trapped in the Sierra Nevada, and some members reportedly resorted to cannibalism when the food ran out.

In 1871, Segregated street cars were integrated in Louisville, Kentucky

In 1896, New York City passed the nation’s first anti-spitting law to combat tuberculosis, imposing fines and jail time. By 1910, more than 2,500 arrests were made—despite backlash from protesters, yep, spitting on anti-spitting signs.

In 1898, Louisiana adopted a new constitution with a “grandfather clause” designed to eliminate black voters.

In 1902, 140,000 miners of anthracite coal in Pennsylvania went out on a strike called by the United Mine Workers after the owners had refused to recognize the UMW, negotiate, or submit to arbitration

In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt’s trip to San Francisco was captured on moving-picture film, making him one of the first presidents to have an official activity recorded in that medium.

In 1911, American economic expert W. Morgan Schuster arrived by invitation to assume almost dictatorial power over Persia's finances; a move resented by Russia.

In 1932, Charles Lindbergh’s son was found dead two months after being kidnapped.

In 1933, the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration established both the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, which provided federal funding to states for relief programs, and the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, which provided economic support to farmers through agricultural surplus reductions.

In 1961, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson met with South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem in Saigon during his tour of Asian countries. Calling Diem the “Churchill of Asia,” he encouraged the South Vietnamese president to view himself as indispensable to the United States and promised additional military aid to assist his government in fighting the communists.

In 1968, the "March of the Poor" under Rev Ralph Abernathy reached Washington, D.C.

In 1970, the Senate voted unanimously to confirm Harry A. Blackmun as a Supreme Court justice.

In 1975, the American freighter Mayaguez was captured by communist government forces in Cambodia, setting off an international incident. The U.S. response to the affair indicated that the wounds of the Vietnam War still ran deep.

In 2002, former President Jimmy Carter visited Cuba, the first American president to visit since the 1959 revolution.

In 2003, fifty-nine Texas House Democrats fled to Oklahoma to prevent the passage of a congressional redistricting bill.

In 2009, five Miami men were convicted in a plot to blow up FBI buildings and Chicago's Sears Tower.

In 2021, US Republicans voted to demote their number three, Liz Cheney, from party leadership after she publicly rebuked Donald Trump for lies about the election