On this date

In 1873, Levi Strauss and tailor Jacob Davis received a U.S. patent for men’s work pants made with copper rivets.

In 1899, taxi driver Jacob German was pulled over and arrested by a police officer riding a bicycle for speeding down Manhattan’s Lexington Avenue in his electric car at 12 miles an hour at a time when the speed limit was 8 mph; it was the first recorded speeding arrest in U.S. history.

In 1948, Chiang Kai-shek was inaugurated as the first president of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

In 1959, Nearly 5,000 JapaneseAmericans had their U.S. citizenships restored after choosing to renounce them during World War II.

In 1961, a white mob attacked a busload of Freedom Riders in Montgomery, Alabama, prompting the federal government to send in U.S. marshals to restore order.

In 1993, an estimated 93 million people tuned in for the final firstrun episode of the sitcom “Cheers” on NBC.

In 1998, the government unveiled the design for the new $20 bill, featuring a larger and slightly offcenter portrait of Andrew Jackson.

Ten years ago: The Senate voted, 90-6, to keep the prison at Guantanamo Bay open for the foreseeable future and forbid the transfer of any detainees to facilities in the United States.

Five years ago: A group of retired professional football players filed suit against the NFL, accusing the league of cynically supplying them with powerful painkillers and other drugs that kept them in the game but led to serious complications later in life.

One year ago: Venezuelan officials declared socialist leader Nicolas Maduro the easy winner of the country’s presidential election; his leading challenger questioned the legitimacy of a vote marred by irregularities.