1797: Naval Regulations passed by Congress
1800: First convoy duty; USS Essex escorts convoy of merchant ships from East Indies to U.S.
1801: U.S. squadron under Commodore Dale enters Mediterranean to strike Barbary Pirates
1850: Naval School at Annapolis renamed Naval Academy
1851: Naval Academy adopts four year course of study
1911: Trial of first Navy aircraft, Curtiss A-1. The designer, Glenn Curtiss, makes first flight in Navy's first aircraft, A-1, at Lake Keuka, NY, then prepares LT Theodore G. Ellyson, the first naval aviator, for his two solo flights in A-1.
1914: Prohibition of alcohol begins in the Navy
1916: Establishment of informal school for officers assigned to submarines at New London, CT
1918: USS Covington hit without warning by two torpedoes from German Submarine U-86 and sank the next day
1946: 1st of 2 detonations, Operation Crossroads nuclear test
1951: Responsibility for the Government of Trust Territories transferred from Navy to Department of Interior.
1972: Date of rank of Rear Admiral Samuel Lee Gravely, Jr., who was first U.S. Navy Admiral of African-American descent.