Today in history

1777: Gen. George Washington’s troops launched an assault on the British at Germantown, Pennsylvania, resulting in heavy American casualties.

1957: The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, into orbit.

1966: The African kingdom of Lesotho gained its independence from Britain.

1970: Rock singer Janis Joplin, 27, was found dead in her Hollywood hotel room.

1985: Islamic Jihad issued a statement saying it had killed American hostage William Buckley. (Fellow hostage David Jacobsen later said he believed Buckley had died of torture injuries four months earlier.)