- 1630: In Boston the first general court was held.
                - 1722: French C. Hopffer patented the fire extinguisher.
                - 1765: A declaration of rights and liberties was drawn up by the
                  Stamp Act Congress in New York.
                - 1781: Lord Cornwallis and his troops surrendered to American forces
                  at Yorktown, Va. in the Revolutionary War.
                - 1849: Elizabeth Blackwell became the first U.S. woman to earn a
                  medical degree.
                - 1870: Four blacks were first elected to the House of
                  Representatives.
                - 1874: Mary Walsh and Charles Colson became the first couple to be
                  married in a balloon.
                - 1879: Thomas Edison demonstrated his electric light.
                - 1914: The U.S. post office first used an automobile to collect and
                  deliver mail.
                - 1926: John C. Garand patented the semi-automatic rifle.
                - 1944: The Navy said black women could join Women Accepted for
                  Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES).
                - 1950: U.N. troops entered Pyongyang, North Korea.
                - 1960: The U.S. began an embargo on all exports to Cuba.
                - 1971: The last issue of "Look" magazine was published.
                - 1983: The Senate established the Martin Luther King Jr. federal
                  holiday on the third Monday in January.

                *Happy Birthday*
                ----------------
                - Jack Anderson, 76, columnist/journalist
                - Jon Favreau, 32, actor/writer, "Swingers"
                - Evander Holyfield, 36, boxer, world heavyweight champion
                - Patricia Ireland, 53, feminist, president NOW
                - John Le Carre, 67, novelist, "Russia House"
                - John Lithgow, 53, actor, "3rd Rock From The Sun"