1775: The Continental Army, forerunner of the United States Army, was created.
1777: The Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, adopted the design of the Stars and Stripes, specifying a flag containing thirteen red and white stripes and 13 stars.
1801: Former American Revolutionary War general and notorious turncoat Benedict Arnold died in London.
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.
1934: Max Baer defeated Primo Carnera with an 11th round TKO to win the world heavyweight boxing championship.
1940: German troops entered Paris during World War II; the same day, the Nazis began transporting prisoners to the Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland.
1943: The U.S. Supreme Court, in West Virginia State Board of Education vs. Barnette, ruled 6-3 that children in public schools could not be forced to salute the flag of the United States.
1954: President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill adding the phrase "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance.
1982: Argentine forces surrendered to British troops on the disputed Falkland Islands.