1692 ― Last person hanged for witchcraft in U.S.
1756 ― Nassau Hall opens at Princeton University
1784 ― Russian trappers established a colony on Kodiak Island, AK
1862 ― President Lincoln, says he will free slaves in all states on Jan. 1
1863 ― President Lincoln makes his Emancipation Proclamation speech
1893 ― First automobile built in U.S. (by Duryea brothers) runs in Springfield
1903 ― Italo Marchiony granted patent for the ice cream cone
1919 ― Steel strike begins in U.S.
1949 ― USSR detonates its first atomic bomb
1955 ― Commercial TV begins in England
1960 ― Mali (without Senegal) gains independence from France (National Day)
1980 ― Iraqi troops seize part of Iran in a border dispute; war begins
1988 ― South Korean coach and team attack New Zealand referee after losing match to Bulgaria, the Olympic Korean boxer stages a 67-minute sit-in
1991 ― Dead Sea Scrolls made public