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1823
President James Monroe outlined his famous doctrine opposing European expansion in the Western Hemisphere.
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1859
Abolitionist John Brown was hanged for his raid on Harper's Ferry.
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1942
The first controlled nuclear chain reaction was demonstrated at the University of Chicago.
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1954
The Senate voted to condemn Republican senator Joseph R. McCarthy of Wisconsin for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute."
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1970
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established.
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1982
Barney B. Clark became the first person to receive an artificial heart in a transplant operation.
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1988
Benazir Bhutto was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head an Muslim nation.
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1990
Composer Aaron Copland died at age 90.
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1999
A Protestant and Catholic cabinet convened for the first time in Northern Ireland.
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2001
Enron Corp., under CEO Kenneth Lay, filed for bankruptcy.