In 1778, the Continental Army under command of Gen. George Washington defeated the British at Monmouth, N.J.
In 1838, Victoria was crowned queen of England. She would rule for 63 years, 7 months.
In 1914, Archduke Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia, an act credited with igniting World War I.
In 1919, World War I officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.
In 1969, the clientele of a New York City gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, rioted after the club was raided by police. The event is considered the start of
the gay liberation movement.
In 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the use of public funds for parochial schools was unconstitutional.
In 1972, U.S. President Richard Nixon announced that no more draftees would be sent to Vietnam unless they volunteered for service in the Asian nation.
In 1984, Israel and Syria exchanged prisoners for the first time in 10 years; 291 Syrian soldiers were traded for three Israelis.
In 1991, the Yugoslav army was deployed to Slovenia to take control of airports and border posts and to prevent the republic’s declared independence.
In 1997, Mike Tyson bit the ears of heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield, tearing off a piece of one ear, during a title fight in Las Vegas.
In 2000, Elian Gonzalez and his father returned to Cuba, hours after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from the Cuban refugee’s Miami relatives
who sought to keep the boy in the United States.
Also in 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Boy Scouts of America had a constitutional right to exclude gay members.
In 2003, people eager to block telemarketing calls overwhelmed a government Web site that began accepting phone numbers at the national do-not-call registry.
The Federal Trade Commission said 735,000 numbers were registered the first day.
In 2004, the U.S.-led coalition formally transferred political power in Iraq to an interim government that would run the country until elections were held.
In 2005, at least 30 people were killed in torrential rains that pounded El Salvador causing flooding and damage to homes.
In 2008, the National Rifle Association, after a legal victory in the U.S. Supreme Court, sued the city of Chicago in an effort to repeal its handgun ban.
The high court opened the door to similar challenges by overturning the District of Columbia’s ban and ruling it legal in most cases to carry guns for
self defense.
Also on 2008, the Presbyterian Church voted to amend its constitution to allow openly gay and lesbian clergy.
In 2009, Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, rousted out of bed in the middle of the night by soldiers, was forced from office and into exile in Costa Rica
in the culmination of a bitter power struggle over proposed constitutional changes, including an extension of term limits.
