Also on this day: President James Monroe outlines his doctrine opposing European expansion in the Western Hemisphere. Militant abolitionist John Brown is hanged for his raid on Harpers Ferry the previous October.
Artist Georges-Pierre Seurat is born in Paris. Ford Motor Co. unveils its Model A automobile that replaces its Model T. New York Municipal Airport-LaGuardia Field (later LaGuardia Airport) goes into operation as an airliner from Chicago lands at one minute past midnight.
An artificially created, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction is demonstrated for the first time at the University of Chicago.The Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, the first full-scale commercial nuclear facility in the U.S., begins operations..
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