Ninth President William Henry Harrison is born in Charles City, Virginia. The son of Declaration of Independence signer Benjamin Harrison V, he won fame as the commanding officer during the Battle of Tippecanoe in Indiana. Elected President in 1840, Harrison would have the shortest tenure of any president as he died 31 days after his inauguration.
In Wheeling, West Virginia, Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy delivers his first speech about Communist infiltration into the State Department. McCarthy's speeches would continue to ignite the second "Red Scare" across the country as he claimed that Communists exerted their influence over American policy making.
Approximately 74 million Americans watch The Beatles perform in the United States for the first time on The Ed Sullivan Show. Two days after landing in New York City to expansive crowds, American viewers finally got to experience the band that had captivated European audiences.
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