Peter Minuit landed in Manhattan, which he later bought for $24 worth of cloth and brass buttons.
The Haymarket Square riot broke out as a result of a labor demonstration.
Public Enemy Number One, Al Capone, was jailed for tax evasion.
The first Grammy Awards were held.
Civil rights activists, called "freedom riders," left Washington, DC for New Orleans.
Four Kent State University students were shot down by National Guard members during an anti-Vietnam War demonstration.
The Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, was sentenced to four life terms plus 30 years for his series of bombings that killed three and injured 23.