■ In A.D. 54, Roman Emperor Claudius I died, poisoned apparently at the behest of his wife, Agrippina. ■ In 1775, the United States Navy had its origins as the Continental Congress ordered the construction of a naval fleet. ■ In 1792, the cornerstone of the executive mansion, later known as the White House, was laid during a ceremony in the District of Columbia. ■ In 1932, President Herbert Hoover and Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes laid the cornerstone for the U.S.