1610 The astronomer Galileo Galilei sighted four of Jupiter's moons.
Planets ordered to wear underpants
1789 The first U.S. presidential election was held. Americans voted for electors who, a month later, chose George Washington to be the nation's first president.
Palm Beach voters thought he was Chad Washington
1800 Millard Fillmore, the 13th president of the United States, was born in Summerhill, N.Y.
The Fillmore East and West celebrated his birth.
1927 Commercial transatlantic telephone service was inaugurated between New York and London.
Cell phone service put off for 70 years.
1953 President Harry S. Truman announced in his State of the Union address that the United States had developed a hydrogen bomb.
He lamented that Japan had already surrendered.
1959 The United States recognized Fidel Castro's new government in Cuba.
Oops!
1997 Newt Gingrich became the first Republican re-elected House speaker in 68 years.
Woohoo!
1999 President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial began in the Senate. (He was later acquited on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.)
Doh!
2005 Actor Brad Pitt and actress Jennifer Aniston announced they were separating after four years of marriage.
Who?
2006 Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, facing corruption charges, stepped down as House majority leader. (He resigned from Congress in June 2006.)Doh!
GordoM-remembers-it-all