| On this date in: |
| 1860 | William Jennings Bryan, secretary of state and three-time Democratic presidential nominee, was born in Salem, Ill. |
| 1891 | Earl Warren, the 14th chief justice of the United States, was born in Los Angeles. |
| 1917 | The Supreme Court upheld the eight-hour work day for railroads. |
| 1918 | Congress approved daylight-saving time. |
| 1920 | The U.S. Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles for a second time. |
| 1931 | Nevada legalized gambling. |
| 1945 | Adolf Hitler issued his so-called "Nero Decree" ordering the destruction of German facilities that could fall into Allied hands. |
| 1953 | The Academy Awards ceremony was televised for the first time. |
| 1962 | Bob Dylan's self-titled debut album was released. |
| 1979 | The U.S. House of Representatives began televising its day-to-day business. |
| 1987 | Televangelist Jim Bakker resigned as chairman of his PTL ministry organization amid a sex-and-money scandal involving a former church secretary, Jessica Hahn. |
| 1988 | Two British soldiers were shot to death after they were dragged from a car and beaten by mourners attending an Irish Republican Army funeral in Belfast, Northern Ireland. |
| 1990 | Latvia's political opposition claimed victory in the republic's first free elections in 50 years. |
| 1995 | After giving up an attempt to become a major league baseball player, Michael Jodan returned to pro basketball with his former team, the Chicago Bulls. |
| 2001 | California officials declared a power alert, ordering the first of two days of rolling blackouts. |
| 2003 | Mahmoud Abbas accepted the new position of Palestinian prime minister. |
| 2008 | Science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke died at age 90. |
| 2009 | An Austrian jury sentenced a man to life in a psychiatric ward for locking his daughter in a dungeon for 24 years, fathering her seven children and letting one die in captivity as a newborn. |
