1. In 1776, the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence was allegedly signed in Charlotte.
This document asserts that the residents of Mecklenburg County were free and independent and owed no allegiance to the British Crown. While the authenticity of this document is debated by historians, it remains a significant part of North Carolina's Revolutionary War history.

2. In 1836, former North Carolina Governor Richard Dobbs Spaight died.
Spaight served as governor from 1792-1795 and was one of three delegates from North Carolina to sign the US Constitution in 1787, along with William Blount and Hugh Williamson.

3. In 1917, Camp Greene, a US Army training camp, was established in Charlotte.
During World War I, over 60,000 soldiers trained at Camp Greene before shipping out to Europe. The camp was decommissioned in 1923 and much of the land is now part of Charlotte's Freedom Park.

4. In 1963, civil rights activist Robert Franklin Williams fled to Cuba from North Carolina.
Williams was the president of the Monroe branch of the NAACP and had been charged with kidnapping after he armed himself and took refuge in his local chapter's office to protect his family from a mob. After fleeing to Cuba, he continued to advocate for racial equality and wrote a book entitled "Negroes with Guns".

5. In 1997, North Carolina native and astronaut William Oefelein made his first space flight.
Oefelein grew up in Anchorage, Alaska but was born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia while his father was stationed there. He attended and graduated from the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland before becoming a Navy test pilot and later, an astronaut.