1775 – A postal system was established by the 2nd Continental Congress of the United States. The first Postmaster General was Benjamin Franklin.

1788 – New York became the 11th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1881 – Thomas Edison and Patrick Kenny execute a patent application for a facsimile telegraph (U.S. Pat. 479,184).

1893 – Commercial production of the Addressograph started in Chicago, IL.

1907 – The Chester was launched. It was the first turbine-propelled ship.

1908 – U.S. Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte issued an order that created an investigative agency that was a forerunner of the FBI.

1945 – Winston Churchill resigned as Britain’s prime minister.

1947 – U.S. President Truman signed The National Security Act. The act created the National Security Council, the Department of Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

1948 – Babe Ruth was seen by the public for the last time, when he attended the New York City premiere of the motion picture, “The Babe Ruth Story.”

1948 – U.S. President Truman signed executive orders that prohibited discrimination in the U.S. armed forces and federal employment.

1952 – King Farouk I of Egypt abdicated in the wake of a coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser.

1953 – Fidel Castro began his revolt against Fulgencio Batista with an unsuccessful attack on an army barracks in eastern Cuba. Castro eventually ousted Batista six years later.

1956 – Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal.

1971 – Apollo 15 was launched from Cape Kennedy, FL. 

1998 – AT&T and British Telecommunications PLC announced they were forming a joint venture to combine international operations and develop a new Internet system.