1798 The first brawl in the U.S. House of Representatives was witnessed by legislators. Congressmen Matthew Lyon and Roger Griswold fought on the House floor.

1815 The United States purchases Thomas Jefferson's library as the nucleus of the Library of Congress. Jefferson's more than 6,000 books help replace those burned by the British during the War of 1812.

1862 The U.S. Navy's first ironclad warship, the "Monitor", was launched.

1933 "The Lone Ranger" was heard on radio for the first time. The program ran for 2,956 episodes and ended in 1955.

1948 Mohandas Gandhi is assassinated in New Delhi. The political and spirtual leader of India's independence movement,
Ghandhi staged numerous nonviolent -- and highly effective -- protests against British authority. His assassin, a Hindu fanatic, objected to Gandhi's tolerance for the Muslims.

1958 The first two-way moving sidewalk was put in service at Love Field in Dallas, TX. The length of the walkway through the airport was 1,435 feet.

1972 In Northern Ireland, British soldiers shot and killed thirteen Roman Catholic civil rights marchers. The day is known as "Bloody Sunday."

1973 G. Gordon Liddy and James W. McCord, former President Nixon reelection campaign members, are convicted of breaking into and illegally tapping Democratic Party headquarters (Watergate hotel).

1981 Nearly 2 million New Yorkers turn out for a ticker-tape parade honoring the freed American hostages held captive in Iran for 444 days before being released January 20.

1994 Peter Leko became the world's youngest-ever grand master in chess.

1995 Kevin Eubanks takes over for Branford Marsalis as bandleader on "The Tonight Show."

1995 Researchers from the U.S. National Institutes of Health announced that clinical trials had demonstrated the effectiveness of the first preventative treatment for sickle cell anemia.

1997 A New Jersey judge ruled that the unborn child of a female prisoner must have legal representation. He denied the prisoner bail reduction to enable her to leave the jail and obtain an abortion.

2002 Slobodan Milosevic accused the U.N. war crimes tribunal of an "evil and hostile attack" against him. Milosevic was defending his actions during the Balkan wars.

2002 Japan's last coal mine was closed. The closures were due to high production costs and cheap imports.

2002 In Los Angeles, 15 students and 3 adults were injured when they were hit by a car.

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