| On this date in: |
| 1663 |
King Charles II of England granted a charter to Rhode Island. |
| 1776 |
Col. John Nixon gave the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence to a crowd gathered at Independence Square in Philadelphia. |
| 1853 |
An expedition led by Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Yedo Bay, Japan, on a mission to seek diplomatic and trade relations with the Japanese. |
| 1889 |
The Wall Street Journal was first published. |
| 1891 |
Warren G. Harding married Florence K. DeWolfe in Marion, Ohio. |
| 1907 |
Florenz Ziegfeld staged his first “Follies,” on the roof of the New York Theater in New York City. |
| 1919 |
President Woodrow Wilson received a tumultuous welcome in New York City after his return from the Versailles Peace Conference in France. |
| 1950 |
Gen. Douglas MacArthur was named commander-in-chief of United Nations forces in Korea. |
| 1986 |
Kurt Waldheim was inaugurated as president of Austria despite controversy over his alleged ties to Nazi war crimes. |
| 1994 |
Kim Il Sung, North Korea’s communist leader since 1948, died at age 82. |
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| AP Photo/Neal Ulevich |
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| 2004 |
Enron founder and former chairman Kenneth Lay pleaded innocent to charges related to the energy company’s collapse. (He was convicted, but died while the case was on appeal.) |
| 2010 |
During an ESPN prime-time special, basketball free agent LeBron James announced he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat. |
| 2011 |
Former first lady Betty Ford died in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at age 93. |
