Wednesday, the Dow lost 351.98 points (1.49%) to finish at 23,323.66, the NASDAQ closed 147.08 points (2.17%) lower at 6,636.83, and the S&P 500 decreased 39.20 points (1.54%) to 2,506.96. The Russell 2000 was down 27.95 points (2.03%) at 1,349.23, and the Wilshire 5000 fell 405.65 points (1.55%) to 25,752.59.

ON THIS DATE: In 1606, the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery set sail from London. Their landing at Jamestown, Virginia, was the start of the first permanent English settlement in America. In 1790, the first successful cotton mill in the United States began operating at Pawtucket, Rhode Island. In 1803, the United States Senate ratified a treaty that included the Louisiana Territories from France for $15 million. The transfer was completed with formal ceremonies in New Orleans. In 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the American Union. In 1864, Confederate forces evacuated Savannah, Georgia, as Union Gen. William T. Sherman continued his “March to the Sea.” In 1879, Thomas A. Edison privately demonstrated his incandescent light at Menlo Park, New Jersey. In 1946, the Frank Capra film “It’s A Wonderful Life” had a preview showing for charity at New York City’s Globe Theatre, a day before its “official” world premiere. In 1963, the Berlin Wall was opened for the first time to West Berliners. It was only for the holiday season. It closed again on January 6, 1964. In 1968, author John Steinbeck died at the age of 66. In 1989, General Noriega, Panama’s former dictator, was overthrown by a United States invasion force invited by the new civilian government. The project was known as Operation Just Cause. In 1990, the world’s first website and server go live at CERN. The first website was http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html. In 1998, in Houston, Texas, a 27-year-old woman gave birth to the first known living set of octuplets. In 2001, the U.S. Congress passed a $20 billion package to finance the war against terrorism taking place in Afghanistan.