On this day in 1642, Italian astronomer Galileo died in Arcetri, Tuscany at the age of 77.

The New York Fishing Company became the first corporation in the United States in 1675. George Washington gave the first State of the Union address on this day in 1790.

In 1815  the Battle of New Orleans resulted in a heavy defeat for the British army. This battle was the last armed conflict between the US and Great Britain.

A bronze statue of Andrew Jackson sitting upon a horse was unveiled on this day in 1853 in Lafayette Park, Washington, DC. The statue was created by Clark Mills.

Borax, or hydrated sodium borate was discovered by Dr. John Veatch on this day in 1856.

Crazy Horse and his followers fought their final battle against the US Cavalry in Montana in 1877.

The Severn Railway Tunnel opened in 1886, for over 100 years it was the longest mainline  railway tunnel in the UK. The construction of two high speed rail links beneath London that opened in 2007 as part of the Channel Tunnel rail link are now the longest in Great Britain.

The tabulating machine was patented in 1889 by Dr. Herman Hollerith. His company, the Tabulating Machine Company later became known as International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).

Serious damage was caused to the World’s Columbian Exposition by a fire in Chicago, Illinois in 1894.

On this day in the year 1900, US President McKinley placed Alaska under military rule. He also created the Department of Alaska war department citing the reason for this action being the increase in migration to the territory. 

In 1908 a collision between two trains inside Park Avenue Tunnel in New York City left 17 people dead and another 38 with injuries. There was a public outcry after the accident for the introduction of electric trains.

During the First World War the final withdrawal of Allied troops from Gallipoli took place on this day in 1916. Two years later to the day, US President Woodrow Wilson announced his Fourteen Points as the basis for peace upon the ending of WW1.

On this day in 1921, David Lloyd George became the first British Prime Minister to use Chequers, the country retreat for the country’s leading politician in Buckinghamshire.

Food rationing began on this day in 1940 in Great Britain.

The founder of the scouting movement for boys, Lord Baden Powell died on this day in 1941 at the age of 86.

In 1958, at the age of just 14, Bobby Fisher won the United States Chess Championship for the first time.

Charles De Gaulle became the President of France in 1959. A war on poverty was declared by US President Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

The trial began in 1973 in Washington, DC of seven men accused of bugging the Democratic Party Headquarters in the Watergate complex. Ella Grasso in 1975, became the governor of Connecticut. In doing so she became the first woman to hold the position of governor without her husband preceding her in the position.

In 1994, Tonya Harding won the ladies US Figure Skating Championship in Detroit, Michigan. This was just days after her biggest rival had to pull out of the contest after being attacked during practice and suffering an injury to her knee.

On this day in 2009, archeologists entered into the pyramid of Queen Sesheshet. Until the discovery of her tomb in late 2008, she was the only queen of the Egyptian sixth dynasty not to have been found.

Famous birthdays from this day include the US Civil War general James Longstreet in 1821, cyclist and first man to win the Tour de France five times Jacques Anquetil in 1934 and Elvis Presley in 1935. Welsh singer Dame Shirley Bassey was born in 1937, author of ‘A Brief History of Time,’ Stephen Hawking in 1942 and David Bowie in 1947.

As you can see over the years this has been quite an eventful day for a number of very different reasons. Check back to see what the next day in the calendar year has to offer tomorrow.