Queen Mary I, the monarch of England and Ireland since 1553, dies and is succeeded by her 25-year-old half-sister, Elizabeth.

“The Sound of Music” premieres on Broadway

The first stock ticker is unveiled in New York City.

English newspaper announces Benjamin Franklin has joined rebellion in America

Vietnam Veterans Memorial dedicated

Abigail Adams leads rhetorical charge against Britain

Armistice Day: World War I ends. At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the Great War ends.

“Sesame Street,” a pioneering TV show that would teach generations of young children the alphabet and how to count, makes its broadcast debut.

One of the biggest power failures in history occurs as all of New York state, portions of seven nearby states, and parts of eastern Canada are plunged into darkness

Physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen becomes the first person to observe X-rays.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected to an unprecedented fourth term in office. FDR remains the only president to have served more than two terms.

Celebrated magician Harry Houdini dies

“The War of the Worlds”—Orson Welles's realistic radio dramatization of a Martian invasion of Earth—is broadcast on the radio

Stock market crashes on Black Tuesday, leading to the Great Depression.

St. Louis’s Gateway Arch is completed

New York City subway opens

The Erie Canal opens, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson River.

The First Continental Congress sends a respectful petition to King George III

63-year-old schoolteacher named Annie Edson Taylor becomes the first person to successfully take the plunge over Niagara Falls in a barrel.

Suffragist organizers hold the first-ever National Women’s Rights Convention in Worcester, Massachusetts.