Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman decreed that 400,000 acres of land in the South would be divided into 40-acre lots and given to former slaves. (The order was later revoked by President Andrew Johnson.)

1920

Prohibition began in the United States as the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution took effect, one year to the day after its ratification..

2020

The first impeachment trial of President Donald Trump opened in the Senate, with senators standing and swearing an oath of “impartial justice.” Trump, who denounced the proceedings as a “hoax,” would later be acquitted on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.