1811 — The Juliana, the first steam-powered ferryboat, begins operation
1864 — Slavery abolished in Maryland
1922 — First woman FBI "special investigator" appointed (Alaska Davidson)
1932 — First political telecast (Democratic National Committee) at CBS, NYC
1936 — "Professor Quiz", 1st radio quiz show premieres
1945 — Chinese civil war begins, Chiang Kai-Shek vs Mao Tse-Tung
1968 — Panama revolts
1972 — Prison uprising at Washington D.C. jail
1975 — "Saturday Night Live" premieres with guest host George Carlin
1979 — Allan McLeod Cormack & Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield win Nobel Prize for medicine for developing the CAT scan
1985 — Pres Reagan bans importation of South African Krugerrands
1990 — Octavio Paz wins Nobel Prize for literature