On Dec. 6, 1790, Congress moved from New York to Philadelphia.
In 1875 mystical poet Evelyn Underhill was born in Wolverhampton, England.
In 1884 Army engineers completed construction of the Washington Monument.
In 1886 poet Joyce Kilmer was born in New Brunswick, N.J.
In 1896 lyricist Ira Gershwin was born in New York.
In 1889 Jefferson Davis, 81, the only president of the Confederate States of America, died in New Orleans.
In 1898 photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt, whose pioneering images for Life magazine helped define American photojournalism, was born in what is now Tczew, Poland.
In 1920 jazz pianist Dave Brubeck was born in Concord, Calif.
In 1923 a presidential address was broadcast on radio for the first time as President Calvin Coolidge spoke to a joint session of Congress.
In 1947 Everglades National Park in Florida was dedicated by President Harry Truman.
In 1957 America’s first attempt at putting a satellite into orbit blew up on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Also, the AFL-CIO voted to expel the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
In 1969 a concert by the Rolling Stones at the Altamont Speedway in Livermore, Calif., was marred by the deaths of four people, including one who was stabbed by a Hell’s Angel.
In 1973 House Minority Leader Gerald Ford was sworn in as vice president, succeeding Spiro Agnew.
In 1982 11 soldiers and six civilians were killed when an Irish National Liberation Army bomb exploded in a pub in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland.
In 1988 rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Roy Orbison died near Nashville; he was 52.
In 1989, 14 women were murdered at the University of Montreal’s school of engineering by a gunman who then took his own life. Also, Egon Krenz resigned as leader of East Germany.
In 1992 thousands of Hindu extremists destroyed a mosque in India, setting off two months of Hindu-Muslim rioting that claimed at least 2,000 lives.
In 1994 former Associate Atty. Gen. Webster Hubbell pleaded guilty to defrauding his former law partners and clients of nearly $400,000. Also, Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen announced his resignation. And Orange County, Calif., filed for bankruptcy protection after investment losses of about $2 billion.
In 1995 New York Times columnist James “Scotty” Reston died in Washington; he was 86.
In 1999 SabreTech, an aircraft maintenance company, was convicted of mishandling the oxygen canisters blamed for the cargo hold fire that caused the 1996 ValuJet crash in the Everglades that killed 110 people. (Eight of the nine counts later were thrown out on appeal.)
In 2002 President Bush pushed Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill and economic adviser Larry Lindsey from their jobs in a Cabinet shake-up. Also, actress Winona Ryder was sentenced to community service as part of a probationary term for stealing more than $5,500 worth of merchandise from a Saks Fifth Avenue store in Beverly Hills.
In 2003 a U.S. warplane in pursuit of a “known terrorist” attacked a village in eastern Afghanistan, mistakenly killing nine children. Also, Army became the first team to finish 0-13 in major college history after a 34-6 loss to Navy.
In 2004 militants struck the U.S. Consulate in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, with explosives and machine guns; nine people were killed in the attack; Al Qaeda claimed responsibility. Also, Ohio certified President Bush’s 119,000 vote victory over John Kerry, even as the Kerry campaign and third-party candidates prepared to demand a statewide recount.
