1776 - Continental Navy Frigate Columbus captures the British schooner HMS Hawk, making the first American capture of a British armed vessel. Columbus later captures the British brig Bolton.
1854 - American and British naval brigades of 90 and 150 men engage Chinese Imperial troops at Shanghai after acts of aggression against American and British citizens. The American party fell under the command of Cmdr. J. Kelly, the commanding officer of USS Plymouth.
1933 - USS Akron (ZRS-4)crashes tail-first into the sea due to a violent storm coming off the New Jersey coast, killing Rear Adm. William A. Moffett, Medal of Honor recipient and the first Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics, along with 75 others. Only three survive.
1943 - USS Porpoise (SS 172) sinks the Japanese whaling ship Koa Maru near Eniwetok.
1949 - The North Atlantic Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., establishing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The treaty promotes peace, stability, and well-being in the North Atlantic area with a collective defense effort.
1981 - USS Stephen W. Groves (FFG 29) is launched and commissioned the following year. She is named in honor of Ensign Groves for "fearlessly plunging into aerial combat against large formations of enemy aircraft threatening the American carriers in the Battle of Midway."
