1863- Samuel Clemens first uses the pen nameMark Twain in a Virginia City newspaper, the “Territorial Enterprise”
1901 – Funeral of Queen Victoria.
1931- 1st use of a rocket to deliver mail (Austria)
1933 – 2 days after becoming chancellor, Adolf Hitler dissolves the Reichstag (Parliament)
1935 – Leonarde Keeler first use of his polygraph machine on criminals later convicted of assault on its findings (Portage Wisc)
1942 – US auto factories switch from commercial to war production
1943 – World War II: The Battle of Stalingrad comes to an end when Soviet troops accept the surrender of the last German troops in the city.
1944 – Allied troops 1st set foot on Japanese territory
1954 – President Eisenhower reports detonation of 1st H-bomb (done in 1952)
1962 – 8 of 9 planets align for 1st time in 400 years
1971 – Idi Amin replaces President Milton Obote as leader of Uganda.
1974 – The F-16 Fighting Falcon flies for the first time.