On this date
In 1690,
the first paper money in America was issued by the Massachusetts Bay Colony to finance a military expedition to Canada.
In 1877,
the song “Chopsticks,” written by 16-year-old Euphemia Allen under the pseudonym Arthur de Lulli, was deposited at the British Museum under the title “The Celebrated Chop Waltz.”
In 1913,
the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, providing for a federal income tax, was ratified.
In 1917,
the United States broke off diplomatic relations with Germany, the same day an American cargo ship was sunk by a U-boat off Britain after the crew was allowed to board lifeboats.
In 1943,
during World War II, the U.S. transport ship SS Dorchester, which was carrying troops to Greenland, sank after being hit by a German torpedo; of the more than 900 men aboard, only some 230 survived. (Four Army chaplains on board gave away their life jackets to save others and went down with the ship.)
In 1966,
the Soviet probe Luna 9 became the first man-made object to make a soft landing on the moon.
In 1998,
Texas executed Karla Faye Tucker for the pickax killings of two people in 1983; she was the first woman executed in the U. S. since 1984.
Ten years ago:
Motivational speaker James Arthur Ray was arrested on manslaughter charges after three people died following an Arizona sweat lodge ceremony he had led in October 2009. (Ray was convicted of three counts of negligent homicide and spent nearly two years in prison.)
Five years ago:
An evening rushhour commuter train with 750 people aboard slammed into a SUV at a crossing in Valhalla, New York, killing the vehicle’s driver and six people on the train.
One year ago:
In the lowest-scoring Super Bowl to date, the New England Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams, 13-3.