In 1663, King Charles II of England granted a charter to Rhode Island.
In 1776, a Colonel John Nixon gave the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence to a crowd gathered at Independence Square in Philadelphia.
In 1798, "The Wall Street Journal" was first published.
In 1891, future president Warren G. Harding married Florence K. DeWolfe in Marion, Ohio.
In 1896, William Jennings Bryan captivated the Democratic national convention in Chicago with his "cross of gold" speech.