On December 15, 1890, Indian agency police on the Standing Rock Reservation killed Sitting Bull. A respected Lakota leader, he had a major influence on the Battle of Little Big Horn and was later part of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show.
On December 4, 1674, Father Marquette erected the first building in what would later become Chicago. He spent the winter there while on an exploratory journey through the region.
On September 19, 1676, Nathaniel Bacon led an irate group of followers into Jamestown and burned nearly all the buildings to the ground. Bacon’s rebellion and the burning of Jamestown are considered precursors to the American Revolution.
On August 20, 1794, General “Mad Anthony” Wayne led American troops to victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. The win enabled the Treaty of Greenville and the US acquisition of the Ohio Territory.
On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the United States Constitution. New Hampshire’s approval of the document put the Constitution into effect and officially made it the United States of America’s ninth state.
On June 3, 1770, Franciscan friar Junipero Serra delivered the first church service at the Carmel Mission. It was was one of 21 missions he and his followers established along the California coast.
On May 21, 1804, Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery departed St. Charles on the Missouri River to begin their exploration of the American West. Traveling 8,000 miles over 28 months, they provided the first accurate mapping of the US west of the Mississippi River.
On May 19, 1883, the first Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show opened in Omaha, Nebraska. The show ran under a few different names for 30 years.
Hiram Ulysses Grant was born on April 27, 1822, in Point Pleasant, Ohio. A hero of the Civil War, he served as America’s 18th president.