In 1216, John, King of England, died, more than a year after affixing his royal seal to Magna Carta (“The Great Charter”). In 1765, the Stamp Act Congress, meeting in New York, adopted a declaration of rights and liberties which the British Parliament ignored. In 1781, British troops under Gen. Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Va, as the American Revolution neared its end. In 1789, John Jay was sworn in as the first Chief Justice of the United States. In 1864, Confederate Lt.