1788 – Massachusetts became the sixth state to enter the United States of America.
1932 – In a joint effort between the United States and Canada, dog sled racing was demonstrated at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY.
1933 – The 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which established when the terms of the President, Vice-President and members of both Houses of Congress shall began and end.
1937 – K. Elizabeth Ohi became the first Japanese woman lawyer as she received her degree from John Marshall Law School in Chicago, IL.
1943 – Frank Sinatra made his debut as a vocalist on radio’s Your Hit Parade.
1952 – Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was crowned Queen Elizabeth II. She was officially crowned June 2, 1953.
1967 – Muhammad Ali retained his world heavyweight title and won the WBA heavyweight title with a 15-round decision over Ernest Terrell in the Houston Astrodome.
1968 – The 10th Winter Olympic Games opened in Grenoble, France.
1971 – NASA Astronaut Alan B. Shepard took a six-iron golf club that he had stashed away inside his spacecraft and swung at three golf balls on the surface of the moon.
1981 – Former Beatles, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison teamed up to record a musical tribute to John Lennon. The result of that session became All Those Years Ago. The song went to #2 on the pop music charts for three weeks.
1985 – The noted French mineral water company, Perrier, debuted its first new product in 123 years.
1998 – Washington National Airport was renamed Ronald Reagan National Airport, for U.S. President Ronald Reagan.