1. On January 4, 1777, British troops under the command of General William Moultrie were defeated by American forces at the Battle of the Rice Boats. This victory gave the Patriots control of the Charleston Harbor during the Revolutionary War.

2. In 1843, the first successful telegraph message in South Carolina was transmitted between Charleston and Savannah, Georgia. This marked a major development in communication technology and revolutionized how people could communicate over long distances.

3. On January 4, 1861, the South Carolina state legislature voted to secede from the Union, becoming the first state to do so. This event eventually led to the start of the Civil War.

4. In 1979, the Charleston Naval Shipyard on the banks of the Cooper River was decommissioned after over 78 years of operation. The shipyard played a key role in building and maintaining ships for the US Navy in both World Wars and the Korean War.

5. On January 4, 1999, South Carolina Governor Jim Hodges signed into law the first state law in the United States requiring a "cooling off" period before a person is allowed to purchase a handgun. This law garnered national attention and sparked debate over gun control measures.