Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

1790

The first successful cotton mill in the United States began operating at Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

1803

The Louisiana Purchase was completed as the territory was formally transferred from France to the United States during ceremonies in New Orleans. The massive land purchase, nearly doubled the size of the young republic.

1860

South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union.

1864

Confederate forces evacuated Savannah, Ga., as Union Gen. William T. Sherman continued his ''March to the Sea.''

1879

Thomas Edison privately demonstrated his incandescent light at Menlo Park, N.J.

1880

Electric lights were installed throughout Broadway's theater section in New York City.

1922

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was formed when 15 eastern European republics merged to form the USSR.

1924

Adolf Hitler was released from prison after serving less than one year of a five-year sentence for treason.

1938

The kinescope, now known as the cathode-ray tube, was patented by Russian immigrant Vladimir Zworykin.

1946

The Frank Capra film ''It's A Wonderful Life,'' starring James Stewart and Donna Reed, had a preview showing for charity at New York City's Globe Theatre, a day before its world premiere.

1955

The United Nations General Assembly elects Yugoslavia to the hotly-contested temporary seat on the Security Council.

1963

The Berlin Wall was opened for the first time to West Berliners, who were allowed one-day visits to relatives in the Eastern sector for the holidays.

1965

"The Dating Game" premiered on television.

1973

The Spanish Prime Minister, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, is killed in a car bomb attack in Madrid.

1987

More than 3,000 people were killed when the Dona Paz, a Philippine passenger ship, collided with the tanker Vector off Mindoro island, setting off a double explosion.

1989

The United States launched Operation Just Cause, sending troops into Panama to topple the government of General Manuel Noriega who had been indicted in the United States on drug trafficking charges in the U.S.

1995

An American Airlines Boeing 757 en route to Cali, Colombia, slammed into a mountain, killing all but four of the 163 people aboard.

1999

The Vermont Supreme Court ruled that homosexual couples were entitled to the same benefits and protections as wedded couples of the opposite sex.

1999

Macau reverted to Chinese rule; it had been a Portuguese colony since 1557.

1868

Harvey Firestone, American industrialist and tire maker.

1895

Suzanne K. Langer, American philosopher and author.

1901

Irene Dunn, American actress.

1901

Robert Van de Graaff, American physicist and inventor.

1968

Author John Steinbeck, who wrote "The Grapes of Wrath" and other work, died in New York City at age 66.

1973

Bobby Darin, American singer, and teen idol of the late 1950s.

1976

Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley died at age 74.

1982

Artur Rubenstein, Polish pianist.

1994

Former Secretary of State Dean Rusk died in Athens, Ga., at age 85.

1996

American astronomer and science writer Carl Sagan died in Seattle at age 62.