On this day in 1811, the German Coast Uprising, a slave revolt in modern-day Louisiana, began.

On this day in 1867, the U.S. Congress passed the District of Columbia Suffrage Bill, granting African American men the right to vote for the first time in the nation’s history.

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On this day in 1893, blues and folk musician Elizabeth Cotten was born near Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

On this day in 1980, “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang became the first hip hop song ever to break into the Billboard Top 40.

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Topsy the Elephant was electrocuted on this day in 1903.

On this day in 1809, French educator Louis Braille, namesake of the Braille reading and writing system, was born.

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On this day in 1848, Black American merchant Joseph Jenkins Roberts was sworn in as the first president of Liberia.

On this day in 1946, William Joyce, better known to the British as Lord Haw-Haw, was put to death for betraying his country on behalf of Nazi Germany.

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On this day in 1942, thirty-three members of a Nazi spy ring headed by Frederick Joubert Duquesne were sentenced to serve time in prison.

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On this day in 1974, President Richard Nixon established a maximum speed limit of 55 miles per hour on every highway in the United States.

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On this day in 1818, Mary Shelley's debut novel, "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus," was first published.

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On this day in 1959, musician Johnny Cash rang in the new year by performing live at San Quentin State Prison in California.

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On this day in 1566, eccentric astronomer Tycho Brahe lost a large chunk of his nose in a swordfight with his third cousin.

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On this day in 1917, Baltimore journalist Henry L. Mencken published a faux history of the bathtub titled “A Neglected Anniversary.”

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On this day in 1944, the Roosevelt administration seized control of the Montgomery Ward company for a second time. 

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On this day in 1947, a record-breaking snowstorm wreaked havoc in New York City.

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