Events
- 1614 - In Virginia, Native American Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe.
- 1621 - The Mayflower sets sail from Plymouth, Massachusetts on a return trip to Great Britain.
- 1792 - U.S. President George Washington exercises his authority to veto a bill, the first time this power is used in the United States.
- 1862 - American Civil War: The Battle of Yorktown begins.
- 1923 - Firestone Tire and Rubber Company starts production of balloon tires.
- 1936 - Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak: An F5 tornado kills 233 in Tupelo, Mississippi, United States.
- 1949 - Fireside Theater debuts on television.
- 1949 - A fire in a hospital in Effingham, Illinois, United States, kills 77 people and leads to nationwide fire code improvements.
- 1951 - Ethel and Julius Rosenberg of the United States are sentenced to death for performing espionage for the Soviet Union.
- 1969 - Vietnam War: Massive antiwar demonstrations occur in many United States cities.
- 1991 - ASA EMB 120 crashes in Brunswick, Georgia, United States, killing all 23 aboard.
- 1992 - Several hundred-thousand abortion rights demonstrators march in Washington, D.C. United States.