Founding Father Alexander Hamilton marries Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton at the Schuyler Mansion in Albany, New York.

Alexander Hamilton was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a key figure in the early American Republic. He was born on January 11, 1755 (or 1757, the exact year is uncertain) in Charlestown, the capital of the island of Nevis in the West Indies. Hamilton’s early life was marked by hardship and tragedy; his father abandoned the family, and his mother died when he was just a child. He later moved to the American colonies for education.

American Revolution: Hamilton became involved in the American Revolutionary War at an early age. He served as a captain of artillery and rose through the ranks, catching the attention of General George Washington.

Contributions to the Constitution: Hamilton was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787, where he played a significant role in drafting the United States Constitution. He was one of the authors of the Federalist Papers, a series of essays advocating for the ratification of the Constitution.

First Secretary of the Treasury: In President George Washington’s administration, Hamilton was appointed as the first Secretary of the Treasury in 1789. In this role, he advocated for a strong central government and implemented economic policies to stabilize the nation’s finances, including the establishment of a national bank.

Formation of the Federalist Party: Hamilton’s political views often clashed with those of Thomas Jefferson. Hamilton was a Federalist, advocating for a strong federal government, a national bank, and a robust financial system. His adversaries, including Jefferson, formed the Democratic-Republican Party, setting the stage for the nation’s first political parties.

Duel with Aaron Burr: One of the most famous events in Hamilton’s life was his fatal duel with Vice President Aaron Burr in 1804. The conflict between the two men had been building for years, culminating in a duel in Weehawken, New Jersey, where Hamilton was mortally wounded and died the following day.

Hamilton’s legacy is significant, especially in the realms of finance and government. His economic policies laid the foundation for the modern financial system, and his ideas continue to influence debates on the role of government and the economy in the United States. Despite his early death, Hamilton’s impact on American political and economic institutions endures.

Construction begins on the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze river.

Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting: Twenty-eight people, including the gunman, are killed in Sandy Hook, Connecticut.

Muntadhar al-Zaidi throws his shoes at then-U.S. President George W. Bush during a press conference in Baghdad, Iraq.

Over 200 of East Pakistan’s intellectuals are executed by the Pakistan Army and their local allies. (The date is commemorated in Bangladesh as Martyred Intellectuals Day.)

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The Toledo War ends.

Mason’s successor Horner proved to be extremely unpopular as governor and his tenure was very short. Residents disliked him so much they burned him in effigy and pelted him with vegetables upon his entry into the territorial capital. In the October 1835 elections, voters approved the draft constitution and elected the popular Mason as state governor. The same election saw Isaac E. Crary chosen as Michigan’s first U.S. Representative to Congress. Because of the dispute Congress refused to accept his credentials and seated him as a non-voting delegate. The two U.S. Senators chosen by the state legislature in November, Lucius Lyon and John Norvell, were treated with even less respect, being allowed to sit only as spectators in the Senate gallery.

On June 15, 1836, Jackson signed a bill that allowed Michigan to become a state, but only after it ceded the Toledo Strip. In exchange for this concession, Michigan would be granted the western three-quarters of what is now known as the Upper Peninsula.Because of the perceived worthlessness of the Upper Peninsula’s remote wilderness, a September 1836 special convention in Ann Arbor, Michigan, rejected the offer.

As the year wore on, Michigan found itself deep in a financial crisis and was nearly bankrupt, because of the high militia expenses. The government was spurred to action by the realization that a $400,000 surplus in the United States Treasury was about to be distributed to the 25 states, but not to territorial governments. Michigan would have been ineligible to receive a share of the money.

The Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Congress offered the region in red to the state of Michigan in exchange for the Toledo Strip, as a compromise.
The “war” unofficially ended on December 14, 1836, at a second convention in Ann Arbor. Delegates passed a resolution to accept the terms set forth by the Congress. The calling of the convention was itself controversial. It had only come about because of an upswelling of private summonses, petitions, and public meetings. Since the legislature did not approve a call to convention, some said the convention was illegal. Whigs boycotted the convention. As a consequence, the resolution was rejected and ridiculed by many Michigan residents. Congress questioned the legality of the convention, but accepted the results of the convention regardless of its concerns. Because of these factors, as well as because of the notable cold spell at the time, the event later became known as the Frostbitten Convention. On January 26, 1837, Michigan was finally admitted to the Union as the 26th state, without the Toledo.

The Toledo War come to an end.

The Toledo War (1835–36), also known as the Michigan–Ohio War, was an almost bloodless boundary dispute between the U.S. state of Ohio and the adjoining territory of Michigan.

Poor geographical understanding of the Great Lakes helped produce conflicting state and federal legislation between 1787 and 1805, and varying interpretations of the laws led the governments of Ohio and Michigan to both claim jurisdiction over a 468-square-mile region along the border, now known as the Toledo Strip. The situation came to a head when Michigan petitioned for statehood in 1835 and sought to include the disputed territory within its boundaries. Both sides passed legislation attempting to force the other side’s capitulation, while Ohio’s Governor Robert Lucas and Michigan’s 24-year-old “Boy Governor” Stevens T. Mason helped institute criminal penalties for citizens submitting to the other’s authority. Both states deployed militias on opposite sides of the Maumee River near Toledo, but besides mutual taunting, there was little interaction between the two forces. The single military confrontation of the “war” ended with a report of shots being fired into the air, incurring no casualties.

During the summer of 1836, Congress proposed a compromise whereby Michigan gave up its claim to the strip in exchange for its statehood and about three-quarters of the Upper Peninsula. The compromise was considered a poor outcome for Michigan. Voters in a state convention in September soundly rejected the proposal. But in December, the Michigan government, facing a dire financial crisis and pressure from Congress and President Andrew Jackson, called another convention which accepted the compromise that resolved the Toledo War.

The later discovery of copper and iron deposits and the plentiful timber in the Upper Peninsula more than offset Michigan’s economic loss in surrendering Toledo.

The Glasgow Underground Railway is opened.

The President of Portugal, Sidónio Pais, is assassinated.