Events
- 1650 – The Harvard Corporation, the more powerful of the two administrative boards of Harvard, is established. It was the first legal corporation in the Americas.
- 1732 – James Oglethorpe is granted a royal charter for the colony of Georgia.
- 1790 – Philadelphia Spelling Book by John Barry becomes the first book to be copyrighted in the United States.
- 1856 – 500 Mormons leave Iowa City, Iowa and head west for Salt Lake City, Utah carrying all their possessions in two–wheeled handcarts.
- 1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Brandy Station, Virginia.
- 1909 – Alice Huyler Ramsey, a 22–year–old housewife and mother from Hackensack, New Jersey, became the first woman to drive across the United States. With three female companions, none of whom could drive a car, for fifty–nine days she drove a Maxwell automobile the 3,800 miles from Manhattan, New York, to San Francisco, California.
- 1915 – U.S. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan resigns over a disagreement regarding the United States' handling of the RMS Lusitania sinking.
- 1922 – First ringing of the Harkness Memorial Chime at Yale University.
- 1930 – Chicago Tribune reporter Jake Lingle is killed at the Illinois Central train station during rush hour by the Leo Vincent Brothers, allegedly over a 100,000 USD gambling debt owed to Al Capone.
- 1934 – Donald Duck debuts in The Wise Little Hen.
- 1953 – Flint–Worcester tornado outbreak sequence: A tornado spawned from the same storm system as the Flint tornado hits in Worcester, Massachusetts killing 94.
- 1954 – McCarthyism: Joseph Welch, special counsel for the United States Army, lashes out at Senator Joseph McCarthy during hearings on whether Communism has infiltrated the Army.
- 1959 – The USS George Washington is launched as the first submarine to carry ballistic missiles.
- 1968 – President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a national day of mourning following the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
- 1973 – Secretariat wins the Triple Crown.
- 1978 – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opens the priesthood to "all worthy men", ending a 148–year–old policy excluding black men.
- 1986 – The Rogers Commission releases its report on the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.