This Week In History

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1909: United States troops marched out of Havana and most of Cuba relinquishing direct control over Cuba. José Miguel Gómez of the Liberal Party becomes president.

1915: President Woodrow Wilson signed into law the "Act to Create the Coast Guard." The Coast Guard was created as a measure to fight contraband trade and aid distressed vessels at sea.

1916: Louis D. Brandeis was nominated by President Wilson to the Supreme Court. This appointment made Brandeis the first Jewish member to serve on the Supreme Court.

1932: The first United States state unemployment insurance act enacted in Wisconsin

1986: U.S. shuttle Challenger exploded nearly a minute after take off, killing all seven crew members aboard the shuttle

2003: Former President Bush delivers his second State of the Union Address, presenting a case for war with Iraq.

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1979:President Jimmy Carter welcomed Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping of China to the White House.

2002: President Bush coins the term "axis of evil" in his State of the Union address. The famed phrase was labeling Iraq, Iran, and North Korea.

2009: President Obama sings the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act on this day in 2009 giving women the right to seek redress for wage discrimination.

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1933: Adolf Hitler was named chancellor of Germany.

1948: Indian peacekeeper and activist Mohandas "Mahatma" Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse.

1976: George H.W. Bush became the 11th director of CIA holding the post from January 1976 to January 1977.

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1865: The U.S. House of Representatives approved the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, formally abolishing slavery in the United States

1940: The first Social Security check was issued to Ida Fuller in the amount of $22.54.

2006: Samuel Alito sworn in as the 110th justice in the history of the Supreme Court

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1790: The Supreme Court convened for the first time in New York City when New York was the nation's temporary capital

1968: Former Vice President Richard Nixon announces candidacy for the presidency

2012: The state senate in Washington passed legislation legalizing same sex marriage By a vote of 28-21