TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

July 26, 2016

Hillary Clinton became the first woman to be nominated for president by a major political party at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

ALSO ON THIS DATE

1775

The Continental Congress established a Post Office and appointed Benjamin Franklin its Postmaster-General.

1788

New York became the 11th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1847

The western African country of Liberia, founded by freed American slaves, declared its independence.

1887

The artificial language Esperanto, intended as a universal form of communication, was published by its creator, Dr. L.L. Zamenhof.

1908

U.S. Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte ordered creation of a force of special agents that was a forerunner of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

1945

The Potsdam Declaration warned Imperial Japan to unconditionally surrender, or face “prompt and utter destruction.” Winston Churchill resigned as Britain’s prime minister after his Conservatives were soundly defeated by the Labour Party; Clement Attlee succeeded him.

1947

President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act, which reorganized America’s armed forces as the National Military Establishment and created the Central Intelligence Agency.