1581: Francis Drake knighted by Queen Elizabeth I aboard Golden Hind at Deptford

1655: Battle at Postage Farina, Tunis: English fleet beats Barbary pirates

1789: 1st US Congress begins regular sessions during George Washington’s presidency at Federal Hall, NYC (ending 1791)

1949: North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) treaty signed in Washington, D.C.

1968: US civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee

1973: World Trade Center, then the world’s tallest building, opens in New York (110 stories). Later destroyed in 9/11 terrorist attacks.

1975: Microsoft is founded as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800

Source: Onthisday.com