Also on this date
In 1812, the War of 1812 began as the United States Congress approved, and President James Madison signed, a declaration of war against Britain.
In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte met defeat at Waterloo as British and Prussian troops defeated the French in Belgium.
In 1953, Egypt’s 148-year-old Muhammad Ali Dynasty came to an end with the overthrow of the monarchy and the proclamation of a republic.
In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson and Japanese Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda spoke to each other by telephone as they inaugurated the first trans-Pacific cable completed by AT&T between Japan and Hawaii.
In 1971, Southwest Airlines began operations with flights between Dallas and San Antonio, and Dallas and Houston.
In 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Georgia v. McCollum, ruled that criminal defendants could not use race as a basis for excluding potential jurors from their trials.
In 2018, President Donald Trump announced that he was directing the Pentagon to create the “Space Force” as an independent service branch.
Ten years ago: Death row inmate Ronnie Lee Gardner died in a barrage of bullets as Utah carried out its first firing squad execution in 14 years.
Five years ago: In dueling decisions about free speech, the Supreme Court upheld Texas’ refusal to issue a license plate bearing the Confederate battle flag and struck down an Arizona town’s restrictions on temporary signs put up by a small church.
One year ago: Pacific Gas & Electric agreed to pay $1 billion to 14 local governments to cover damage from a series of deadly wildfires caused by its downed power lines.