On this date in...

1865...Abraham and Strauss begins as a department store in the city of Brooklyn. The A&S chain will go on to serve New Yorkers for more than a century, until 1995 when the name is dropped following a merger with Macy's.

1899...Mayor Robert Van Wyck signs a law changing the name of Western Boulevard to Broadway. Until that point, Western Boulevard was the extension of Broadway above Columbus Circle.

1965...Malcolm X's house in Elmhurst, Queens, is firebombed. A week later, the Muslim activist is assassinated.