Events
- 1766 - Antonio de Ulloa, the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, arrives in New Orleans.
- 1770 - Boston Massacre: Five Americans, including a black man named Crispus Attucks, and a boy are killed by British troops in an event that would contribute to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War five years later.
- 1836 - Samuel Colt makes the first production-model revolver (.34-caliber).
- 1842 - Over 500 Mexican troops led by Rafael Vasquez invade Texas, briefly occupy San Antonio and then head back to the Rio Grande.
- 1861 - The "Stars and Bars" is adopted as the flag of the Confederate States of America.
- 1868 - A court of impeachment is organized in the United States Senate to hear charges against President Andrew Johnson.
- 1872 - George Westinghouse patents the air brake.
- 1933 - Great Depression: President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares a "bank holiday", closing all United States banks and freezing all financial transactions.
- 1958 - Explorer 2 spacecraft launches, fails to reach Earth orbit.
- 1968 - U.S. launches Solar Explorer B, aka Explorer 37 from Wallops Island to study the Sun.
- 1978 - Landsat 3 is launched from Vandenberg AFB in California.
- 1979 - Voyager 1's closest approach to Jupiter, 172,000 miles.
- 1991 - Iraq releases all Gulf War prisoners.
- 1998 - NASA announces that the Clementine probe orbiting the Moon has found enough water to support a human colony.
- 2001 - Santana High School shooting: A student shoots at other students at Santana High School in Santee, California, killing two and wounding thirteen.