1931: Thomas Edison, inventor who had 1,093 patents to his name for his inventions that included the electric light bulb, the phonograph, and the kinetoscope (movie camera), died in West Orange, New Jersey. He was 84.

1898: American troops fighting in the Spanish-American War raised the United States flag in Puerto Rico formalizing U.S. control of the former Spanish colony. General Nelson A. Miles had landed approximately 3,500 U.S. troops on the island on July 25. On August 12, Spain and the United States agreed to an armistice; on September 13, the Protocol of Peace was ratified; and on December 10, the Treaty of Paris was signed, ending the Spanish-American War. Spanish exploration of the island, located between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, began in 1493 when Christopher Columbus visited during his second journey to the New World. In 1508, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon established the first permanent Spanish settlement there at the town of Caparra. (Source: Library of Congress)