1994: Without any warning, and just as investors are pouring billions of dollars into bonds, the Federal Reserve raises short-term interest rates for the first time in five years. By year-end, the Fed has hiked short-term rates by 2.5 percentage points — and Treasury bonds lose 7.8%, their worst return since 1967.

Martin S. Fridson, It Was a Very Good Year: Extraordinary Moments in Stock Market History (John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1998), p. 188

1887: The Interstate Commerce Act is enacted, creating the U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission and giving the Federal government the radical new right to regulate the conduct of private businesses acting in the public interest, such as railroads.

Jean Strouse, Morgan: American Financier (Random House, New York, 1999), p. 257