| 1790 | The U.S. patent system is established. | |
| 1809 | Austria declares war on France and her forces enter Bavaria. | |
| 1862 | Union forces begin the bombardment of Fort Pulaski in Georgia along the Tybee River. | |
| 1865 | At Appomattox Court, Va, General Robert E. Lee issues his last orders to the Army of Northern Virginia. | |
| 1866 | The American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is formed. | |
| 1902 | South African Boers accept British terms of surrender. | |
| 1912 | The Titanic begins her maiden voyage which will end in disaster. | |
| 1925 | F. Scott Fitzgerald publishes The Great Gatsby. | |
| 1930 | The first synthetic rubber is produced. | |
| 1932 | Paul von Hindenburg is elected president in Germany. | |
| 1938 | Germany annexes Austria. | |
| 1941 | U.S. troops occupy Greenland to prevent Nazi infiltration. | |
| 1945 | In their second attempt to take the Seelow Heights, near Berlin, the Red Army launches numerous attacks against the defending Germans. The Soviets gain one mile at the cost of 3,000 men killed and 368 tanks destroyed. | |
| 1945 | Allied troops liberate the Nazi concentration camp of Buchenwald north of Weener, Germany. | |
| 1947 | Jackie Robinson becomes the first black to play major league baseball as he takes the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers. | |
| 1971 | The American table tennis team arrives in China. | |
| 1974 | Yitzhak Rabin replaces resigning Israeli Prime Minister, Golda Meir. | |
| 1972 |  |
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| 1981 | Imprisoned Irish Republican Army hunger striker Bobby Sands is elected to the British Parliament. |
