On June 14th, 1777, the Continental Congress in Philadelphia adopted the Stars and Stripes as the national flag.
On this date:
In 1775, the United States Army was founded.
In 1846, a group of US settlers in Sonoma proclaimed the Republic of California.
In 1922, Warren G. Harding became the first president heard on radio, as Baltimore station WEAR broadcast his speech dedicating the Francis Scott Key memorial at Fort McHenry.
In 1940, German troops entered Paris during World War Two.
In 1940, in German-occupied Poland, the Nazis opened their concentration camp at Auschwitz.
In 1943, the Supreme Court ruled schoolchildren could not be compelled to salute the flag of the United States if doing so would conflict with their religious beliefs.
In 1954, President Eisenhower signed an order adding the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance.
In 1967, the space probe "Mariner Five" was launched from Cape Kennedy on a flight that took it past Venus.
In 1982, Argentine forces surrendered to British troops on the disputed Falkland Islands.
In 1985, the 17-day hijack ordeal of TWA Flight 847 began as a pair of Lebanese Shiite Muslim extremists seized the jetliner shortly after takeoff from Athens, Greece.
Ten years ago: The Supreme Court upheld, by a six-to-three vote, police checkpoints that examine drivers for signs of intoxication.
Five years ago: Stephen Yokich was elected president of the United Auto Workers at the union's triennial convention in Anaheim, California.
One year ago: About 15,000 NATO peacekeepers spread out across Kosovo, including a convoy of about 1200 US Marines. The Supreme Court opened the door to full broadcast advertising of casino gambling, ruling a federal ban aimed at protecting compulsive gamblers violated free-speech rights.
