1787
Confederation Congress charts a path to statehood for the Ohio territory; slavery banned within its bounds
The Northwest Ordinance divides the vast British cession into future states and sets aside a township plot for public schools in every settlement.
1863Member story · 1776 Club
Mob torches the draft office on Third Avenue; four days of violence begin
Some 500 men, led by volunteer firemen, storm the provost marshal's post at 47th Street, furious that $300 buys a rich man's way out of the Union Army.
1973Member story · 1776 Club
Butterfield tells the Senate: every Oval Office word since 1971 has been on tape
The White House deputy assistant reveals 3,432 hours of recordings exist, and the Watergate case now turns on what is in them.
1985Member story · 1776 Club
Reagan signs over his powers before surgery; Bush is Acting President by mid-morning
Invoking Section 3 of the 25th Amendment for the first time, Reagan transfers the office ahead of anesthesia for a colon procedure at George Washington University Hospital.
1995
Discovery lifts off at last; woodpecker damage and a mid-count signal flag had held it back
Six hours after launch, the crew deploys TDRS-G, the last first-generation tracking satellite, raised toward geostationary orbit by the Inertial Upper Stage.