1794 – The U.S. Congress authorized the creation of the U.S. Navy.

1802 – The Treaty of Amiens was signed ending the French Revolutionary War.

1836 – In Goliad, TX, about 350 Texan prisoners, including their commander James Fannin, were executed under orders from Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna. An estimated 30 Texans escaped execution.

1836 – The first Mormon temple was dedicated in Kirtland, OH.

1841 – The first steam fire engine was tested in New York City.

1860 – The corkscrew was patented by M.L. Byrn.

1866 – U.S. President Andrew Johnson vetoed the civil rights bill, which later became the 14th amendment.

1884 – The first long-distance telephone call was made from Boston to New York.

1899 – The first international radio transmission between England and France was achieved by the Italian inventor G. Marconi.

1900 – The London Parliament passed the War Loan Act that gave 35 million pounds to the Boer War cause in South Africa.

1900 – The Russian army mobilized 250,000 troops for active duty.

1901 – Filipino rebel leader Emilio Aguinaldo was captured by the U.S.

1904 – Mary Jarris “Mother” Jones was ordered by Colorado state authorities to leave the state. She was accused of stirring up striking coal miners.

1907 – French troops occupied Oudja, Morocco, as a punitive action for the murder of French Dr. Muchamp.

1912 – The first cherry blossom trees were planted in Washington, DC. The trees were a gift from Japan.

1917 – The Seattle Metropolitans, of the Pacific Coast League of Canada, defeated the Montreal Canadiens and became the first U.S. hockey team to win the Stanley Cup.

1931 – Actor Charlie Chaplin received France’s Legion of Honor decoration.

1933 – About 55,000 people staged a protest against Hitler in New York City.

1933 – In the U.S., the Farm Credit Administration was authorized.

1941 – Tokeo Yoshikawa arrived in Oahu, HI, and began spying for Japan on the U.S. Fleet at Pearl Harbor.

1942 – The British raided the Nazi submarine base at St. Nazaire, France.

1946 – Four-month long strikes at both General Electric and General Motors ended with a wage increase.

1952 – The U.S. Eighth Army reached the 38th parallel in Korea, the original dividing line between the two Koreas.

1955 – Steve McQueen made his network TV debut on “Goodyear Playhouse.”

1958 – Nikita Khrushchev became the chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers in addition to First Secretary of the Communist Party.

1958 – The U.S. announced a plan to explore space near the moon.

1976 – Washington, DC, opened its subway system.

1985 – Billy Dee Williams received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1988 – The U.S. Senate ratified the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

1989 – The U.S. anti-missile satellite failed the first test in space.

1993 – In China, Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin was appointed President.

1997 – Russian workers, nearly 2 million, held a nationwide strike to protest unpaid wages.

1997 – In Australia, Governor-General William Deane signed a bill to overturn a 1996 Northern Territory act to legalize assisted suicides. The 1996 act was the first in the world to permit assisted suicides.

1998 – In the U.S., the FDA approved the prescription drug Viagra. It was the first pill for male impotence.

1998 – Top civilian aircraft makers in France, Spain, Germany and Britain agreed to create single European aerospace and defense company.

2004 – NASA successfully launched an unpiloted X-43A jet that hit Mach 7 (about 5,000 mph).

2007 – NFL owners voted to make instant replay a permanent officiating tool.