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1785 - The dollar (and decimal coinage) is unanimously chosen by the Continental Congress as the monetary unit for the United States. the US is the first nation to adopt decimal money system.

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1796 - Birth of Nicholas I Russia, Tsar (1825-55).

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1818 - Birth of Adolf Anderssen Prussia, world chess champion (1851-66).

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1835 - In Vicksburg, Mississippi, local militia hangs five gamblers following months of trouble, culminating in the murder of a doctor and armed resistance to the law.

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1853 - William Wells Brown publishes "Clotel," first novel by black American.

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1854 - First US Republican state convention, in Ripon, Wisconsin.

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1859 - Birth of Verner von Heidenstam Sweden, poet/novelist (Nobel Prize 1916).

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1863 - Northern Territory passes from New South Wales to South Australia.

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1869 - Black candidate for lt governor of Virginia, Dr J H Harris, defeated.

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1878 - Birth of Eino Leino Finland, poet/playwright/novelist (Elámän Koreus).

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