1. In 1866, construction officially began on the Brooklyn Bridge, one of the most iconic landmarks in New York City. The bridge, which spanned the East River, was completed in 1883 and became the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time.

2. In 1938, groundbreaking ceremonies were held for the construction of LaGuardia Airport, named after then-Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia. The airport, located in Queens, opened in 1939 and was initially built to relieve congestion at New York's other airports.

3. In 1955, Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California, with the help of Walt Disney, who was born in New York City. Disney would go on to have a lasting impact on the entertainment industry, producing classic films like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Cinderella, as well as creating iconic characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.

4. In 1996, TWA Flight 800, a Boeing 747, exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Long Island, killing all 230 people on board. The crash remains one of the deadliest aviation disasters in U.S. history, and the cause is still hotly debated.

5. In 2014, Eric Garner, a black man, died after being placed in a chokehold by a white New York City police officer during an arrest for selling loose cigarettes. The incident, which was caught on video, sparked widespread protests and became a focal point of the Black Lives Matter movement.