1776
The first scholastic fraternity in America, Phi Beta Kappa, was organized at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.
1791
Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died in Vienna, Austria, at age 35.
1848
President Polk triggered the Gold Rush of 1848 by confirming that gold had been discovered in California.
1872
Having left New York on Nov. 5, the brigantine Mary Celeste was found adrift off Portugal with everyone aboard mysteriously missing.
1933
The 21st Amendment to the Constitution, repealing prohibition, was ratified.
1955
The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merged to form the AFL-CIO.
2002
At Sen. Strom Thurmond’s 100th birthday celebration, Senate Republican leader Trent Lott praised Thurmond’s 1948 segregationist presidential bid. Lott subsequently resigned his leadership position.
2004
Hamid Karzai was sworn in as Afghanistan’s first popularly elected president.
2009
An Italian jury convicts Amanda Knox, an American student, of murdering her former roommate, English student Meredith Kercher, in 2007.
Birthdays
George Armstrong Custer
1839–1876, American military officer.
Martin Van Buren
8th U.S. president (1782)
Christina Rossetti
poet (1830)
Bill Pickett
cowboy, rodeo star (1870)
Walt Disney
film producer (1901)
Strom Thurmond
U.S. senator (1902)
Otto Preminger
director, producer (1906)
Little Richard
musician (1932)
Joan Didion
writer (1934)
Frankie Muniz
actor (1985)