On this date

1842 – John Greenough is granted the first U.S. Patent for the sewing machine.

1878 – The first telephone book is issued in New Haven, CT.

1885 – The newly completed Washington Monument is dedicated.

1948 – NASCAR is incorporated

1965 – Malcolm X is assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in NYC by members of the Nation of Islam.

1970 – A mid-air explosion and subsequent crash kills 38 passengers and nine crew members near Zurich, Switzerland.

1975 – Watergate Scandal – Former U.S. Attorney General John Mitchell and former White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are sentenced to prison.