In 1783, General George Washington bade farewell to his officers at Fraunces Tavern in New York. In a choked voice, the departing chief commander of the Continental Army said, "With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you."
In 1816, James Monroe of Virginia was elected the fifth president of the United States, defeating Federalist Rufus King.
In 1875, William Marcy Tweed, the "Boss" of New York City's Tammany Hall political organization, escaped from jail and fled the country.
In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson set sail for France to attend the Versailles Peace Conference, becoming the first chief executive to travel outside the United States while in office.
In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the dismantling of the Works Progress Administration which had been created in 1935 to provide work during the Depression.
In 1942, U.S. bombers struck the Italian mainland for the first time in World War II.
In 1945, the Senate approved U.S. participation in the United Nations.
In 1965, the United States launched "Gemini Seven" with Air Force Lt. Colonel Frank Borman and Navy Cmdr. James A. Lovell aboard.
In 1977, Jean-Bedel Bokassa, ruler of the Central Aftrican Empire, crowned himself emperor in an extravagant ceremony estimated to have cost his impoverished country more than $100,000. (Bokassa was deposed in 1979)
In 1980, the bodies of four American churchwomen slain in El Salvador were unearthed.
