On this date in...

1683...The British form Kings and Queens counties – today comprising the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens – naming the regions in honor of England's King Charles II and his wife, Catherine of Braganza.

1918...Ninety-seven straphangers are killed and more than 200 are hurt in the worst subway accident in city history, when a train smashes into a tunnel wall along the old Brighton Beach line. The accident occurs when an untrained motorman who had crossed a picket line to fill in for striking train workers loses control of the train near the Malbone Street station – now the Prospect Place station on the D and Q lines.

1946...The New York Knicks down the Toronto Huskies in the debut of the National Basketball Association.