TODAY IN HISTORY
On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress approved the design of the original American flag.
Also on this date
In 1775, the Continental Army, forerunner of the United States Army, was created.
In 1846, a group of U.S. settlers in Sonoma proclaimed the Republic of California.
In 1919, John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown embarked on the first nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. (Flying a Vickers Vimy biplane bomber, they took off from St. Johns, Newfoundland, in Canada and arrived 161⁄2 hours later in Clifden, Ireland.)
In 1940, German troops entered Paris during World War II; the same day, the Nazis began transporting prisoners to the Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland.
In 1943, the U.S. Supreme Court, in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, ruled that public school students could not be forced to salute the flag of the United States.
In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a measure adding the phrase “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance.
In 1967, California Gov. Ronald Reagan signed a bill liberalizing his state’s abortion law.
In 1972, the Environmental Protection Agency ordered a ban on domestic use of the pesticide DDT, to take effect at year’s end.
In 1982, Argentine forces surrendered to British troops on the disputed Falkland Islands.
In 2017, a rifle-wielding gunman opened fire on Republican lawmakers at a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia, wounding House Whip Steve Scalise and several others; the assailant died in a battle with police.
Ten years ago: In dueling speeches in the battleground state of Ohio, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, speaking in Cincinnati, described the Obama administration as the very “enemy” of people who create jobs; President Barack Obama, in Cleveland, asked the nation to buy into his vision for four more years or face a return to the recession-era “mistakes of the past.”
Five years ago: Fire ripped through the 24-story Grenfell Tower in West London, killing 71 people.
One year ago: Joe Biden used his first appearance as president at the NATO summit in Brussels to call on Russian President Vladimir Putin to step back from provocative actions targeting the U.S. and allies.