1930

New York’s Chrysler Building, at the time the world’s tallest building, opened to the public.

1937

The newly completed Golden Gate Bridge connecting San Francisco and Marin County, California, was opened to pedestrian traffic.

1942

Doris “Dorie” Miller, a cook aboard the USS West Virginia, became the first African American to receive the Navy Cross for “extraordinary courage and disregard for his own personal safety” during Japan’s Pearl Harbor attack.