Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

1681

England's King Charles II granted a charter to William Penn for an area of land that later became Pennsylvania.

1789

The Constitution of the United States went into effect as the first Federal Congress met in New York City. Lawmakers then adjourned for the lack of a quorum.

1791

Vermont became the 14th state.

1829

An unruly crowd mobbed the White House during the inaugural reception for President Jackson.

1837

The Illinois state legislature granted a city charter to Chicago.

1861

Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as president.

1902

The American Automobile Association was founded in Chicago.

1905

Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in for his second term as president.

1913

Woodrow Wilson was sworn as the 28th United States president.

1917

Republican Jeanette Rankin of Montana took her seat as the first woman elected to the House of Representatives.

1933

Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated president, pledging to lead the country out of the Great Depression.

1933

The start of President Roosevelt's first administration brought with it the first woman to serve in the Cabinet: Labor Secretary Frances Perkins.

1952

Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis were married in North Hollywood, Calif.

1987

President Reagan addressed the nation on the Iran-Contra affair, acknowledging his overtures to Iran had "deteriorated" into an arms-for-hostages deal.

1989

Time Inc. and Warner Communications Inc. announced plans to merge into the world's largest media and entertainment conglomerate.

1993

Authorities announced the arrest of Mohammad Salameh, a suspect in the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City. Salameh was later convicted of playing a key role.

1997

Calling creation of life "a miracle that reaches beyond laboratory science," President Clinton barred spending federal money on human cloning.

1999

Outraging Italian authorities, a military jury in North Carolina cleared a Marine pilot of charges he was flying recklessly when his jet sliced through a ski gondola cable in the Alps, sending 20 people plunging to their deaths.

1999

Retired Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun, who wrote the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide, died in Arlington, Va., at age 90.