On this date

In 1812, the U.S. House of Representatives approved, 79-49, a declaration of war against Britain.

In 1919, Congress approved the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing citizens the right to vote regardless of their gender, and sent it to the states for ratification. In 1939, the German ocean liner MS St. Louis, carrying more than 900 Jewish refugees from Germany, was turned away from the Florida coast by U.S. officials. In 1942, the World War II Battle of Midway began, resulting in a decisive American victory against Japan.

In 1954, French Premier Joseph Laniel and Vietnamese Premier Buu Loc signed treaties in Paris according “complete independence” to Vietnam.

In 1986, Jonathan Jay Pollard, a former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst, pleaded guilty in Washington to conspiring to deliver information related to the national defense to Israel. (Pollard, sentenced to life in prison, was released on parole in 2015.) In 1998, a federal judge sentenced Terry Nichols to life in prison for his role in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

Ten years ago: Travis Alexander, 30, was stabbed to death at his suburban Phoenix home by his girlfriend, Jodi Arias, who claimed self-defense but was convicted of first-degree murder. Five years ago: France said it confirmed that nerve gas was used “multiple times in a localized way” in Syria.

One year ago: Alex Honnold became the first to climb alone to the top of the massive granite wall known as El Capitan in Yosemite National Park without ropes or safety gear.