On this date in 1949, Mason and future President Gerald R. Ford (U.S. President 1974-1977) received his 1st degree in Malta Lodge #465, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The USS Nautilus, the world's first Nuclear submarine is commissioned by the U.S. Navy on this day in 1954. The keel of the Nautilus was laid by Mason and President Harry S. Truman on January 21, 1954.

Mason, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera The Magic Flute is performed for the first time in Vienna on this day in 1791