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1777 - Vermont becomes the first American territory to abolish slavery.

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1787 - de Sade shouts from Bastille that prisoners are being slaughtered.

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1798 - John Fitch American inventor, clockmaker, etc, dies.

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1808 - Simon Fraser completes his trip down Fraser R, British Columbia, Canada, lands at Musqueam.

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1821 - Birth of Charles Tupper (Conservative) 6th Canadian Prime Minister (1896).

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1822 - Denmark Vesey and five aides hanged at Blake's Landing, Charleston, South Carolina.

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1839 - 53 African slaves led by Joseph Cinque take over the slave ship Amistad.

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1843 - An alligator falls from the sky during a Charleston South Carolina thunderstorm.

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1847 - Envelope bearing the first US 10-cent stamps, still exists today.

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1858 - Partial emancipation of Russian serfs.

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