He was 51 and wished to retire and be a private citizen again. And so on this day in 1783, in Annapolis, George Washington, commander of the Continental Army, resigned his commission. He would come out of retirement, reluctantly, in 1789, to serve as the first President 
On This Day, 1913: Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act, which created the Federal Reserve. The "Fed" enabled the government to better control U.S. monetary supply, and established a framework for regulating banks and credit
Now wartime allies, Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt met with reporters in the Oval Office - this day in 1941. Churchill, chomping on his cigar, briefly stood on his chair while he addressed the packed room /1
The Situation Room wasn't built until 1961, so in FDR's day, his "war room" was in the White House basement. Huge maps of Europe and the Pacific adorned the walls, and room was made for the president's wheelchair. Today the room is known as...the Map Room
On This Day, 1967: on his round the world trip - there really was no planning, he just flew where he felt like going - Lyndon Johnson dropped in on Pope Paul VI and gave him, for a Christmas present, a bust of Lyndon Johnson. He had a bunch of them made and just handed 'em out
On This Day, 1983: President Reagan suits up for another role
On This Day, 1988. Two days after the terror bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Scotland, President Reagan was asked why diplomats were warned - but not the general public - about a possible attack:
