1638 – An earthquake struck Plymouth, MA, causing a great deal of damage, but no fatalities.
1792 – Kentucky entered the United States as the 15th state.
1796 – Tennessee became the 16th state to join the union.
1796 – Physicist Sadi Nicolas Leonard Carnot, pioneer in thermodynamics, was born in Paris.
1801 – Brigham Young, founder of the Mormon Church, was born in Whittingham, VT.
1831 – Sir James Clark Ross, an English navigator and explorer, discovered the magnetic North Pole while on his Arctic exploration.
1869 – Thomas Edison received a patent for his electric voting machine.
1878 – Poet John Masefield (Sea Fever, A Wanderer’s Song, Cargoes, The Wanderer, A Consecration, To-Morrow, Spanish Waters, Christmas Eve At Sea) was born in Ledbury, England.
1911 – Bradford and Leeds became the first cities in Great Britain to have trolley cars installed.
1926 – Actress Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jean Baker Mortenson in Los Angeles, CA.
1941 – The Mediterranean island nation of Crete fell to German forces during World War II.
1957 – Don Bowden became the first American to break the four-minute mile, timed at 3 minutes, 58.7 seconds.
1961 – FM multiplex stereo broadcasting debuted in Chicago, Los Angeles and Schenectady, NY. The FCC adopted the standard a year later.
1980 – CNN, the world’s first 24-hour television news network, made its debut from Atlanta, GA.
Chief Writing Wolf 