In, 1783 General George Washington issued his "Farewell Address to the Army" near Princeton, N.J.
In 1795, the 11th president of the United States, James K. Polk, was born in Mecklenburg County, N.C.
In 1865, the 29th president of the United States, Warren G. Harding was born near Corsica, Ohio.
In 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour expressed support for a "national home" for the Jews of Palestine in a statement that came to be known as "The Balfour Declaration."
In 1920, radio station KDKA in Pittsburgh broadcast presidential election returns for the first time.
In 1930, Haile Selassie was crowned emperor of Ethiopia.
In 1936, the British Broadcasting Corperation inaugurated public "high-definition" TV service with a broadcast from Alexandra Palace in north London.
In 1947, Howard Hughes piloted his huge wooden flying boat, known as the Spruce Goose, on its only flight, which lasted about a minute over Long Beach Harbor in California.
In 1948, President Harry S. Truman surprised the experts by being re-elected in a narrow upset over the Republican challenger, Thomas E. Dewey.
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Actor Burt Lancaster (1913)
Actor Ray Walston (1914)
Political commentator Patrick J. Buchanan (1938)
Author Shere Hite (1942)
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"A man who is influenced by the polls or is afraid to make decisions which may make him unpopular is not a man to represent the welfare of the country."