On this date

In 1698, Russia’s Peter the Great imposed a tax on beards.

In 1774, the first Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia.

In 1882, the nation’s first Labor Day was celebrated with a parade in New York.

In 1939, four days after war had broken out in Europe, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a proclamation declaring U.S. neutrality in the conflict.

In 1975, President Gerald R. Ford escaped an attempt on his life by Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, a disciple of Charles Manson, in Sacramento, Calif.

In 1997, breaking the royal reticence over the death of Princess Diana, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II delivered a televised address in which she called her former daughter-in-law “a remarkable person.”

In 2005, President George W. Bush nominated John Roberts to succeed the late William Rehnquist as chief justice of the United States.

Ten years ago: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice became the highest-ranking American official in half a century to visit Libya, where she met Moammar Gadhafi.

Five years ago: President Barack Obama pressed fellow world leaders to support a U.S. strike on Syria; however, he encountered opposition from Russia, China and even the European Union, who said it was too soon for military action.

One year ago: President Donald Trump announced that he was phasing out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program protecting young immigrants brought to the country illegally, but said he’d give Congress six months to come up with an alternative.