Today:
1789 – The United States Post Office Department is established.
1841 – The Sultan of Brunei cedes Sarawak to the United Kingdom.
1869 – “Black Friday”: A financial panic in the United States is triggered by the efforts of Jay Gould and James Fisk to corner the gold market.
1906 – U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaims Devils Tower in Wyoming as the first U.S. National Monument.
1932 – The Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd merges to become the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
1948 – The Honda Motor Company is founded in Japan.
1957 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce school desegregation.
1960 – USS Enterprise, the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is launched.
1996 – The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is signed at the United Nations.
2005 – Hurricane Rita makes landfall in Texas and Louisiana, causing significant damage.