1773 The Parliament of Great Britain passes the Tea Act, designed to save the British East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the North American tea trade.
1805 First Barbary War: United States Marines and Berbers attack the Tripolitan city of Derna (The "shores of Tripoli" part of the Marines' hymn).
1861 President of the United States Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus.
1861 West Virginia secedes from Virginia after Virginia secedes from US
1937 US Social Security system makes its first benefit payment
1982 Trial of John W Hinckley Jr attempted assassin of Reagan, begins
1989 Beijing students take over Tiananmen Square in China
