| On this date in: |
| 1620 | Forty-one Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower, anchored off Massachusetts, signed a compact calling for a "body politick." |
| 1831 | Former slave Nat Turner, who had led a violent insurrection, was executed in Jerusalem, Va. |
| 1889 | Washington became the 42nd state. |
| 1921 | President Warren G. Harding dedicated the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. |
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| AP Photo |
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| 1965 | Rhodesia proclaimed its independence from Britain. |
| 1972 | The U.S. Army turned over its base at Long Binh to the South Vietnamese army, symbolizing the end of direct U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War. |
| 1992 | The Church of England voted to ordain women as priests. |
| 1998 | Israel's Cabinet narrowly ratified a land-for-peace agreement with the Palestinians. |
| 2000 | Republicans went to court seeking an order to block manual recounts from continuing in Florida's presidential election. |
| 2000 | A cable car crammed with skiers and snowboarders caught fire while being pulled through an Alpine tunnel in Austria, killing 155 people. |
| 2004 | Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died in Paris at age 75. |
| 2008 | Country singer Taylor Swift's album "Fearless" was released. |
