Today in History

The U.S. Army is officially born as the Second Continental Congress founds a united Continental Army to bring the 13 colonies together in the fight for independence from Great Britain. Expand +

The Second Continental Congress issues a resolution adopting the Flag of the United States. It wasn't until 1949, that Congress approved the national observance, and President Harry Truman signed it into law. There have been twenty-seven official versions of the flag to date. The current version of the flag dates to August 21, 1959, after Hawaii became the fiftieth state. While not a federal holiday, Flag Day is observed annually on June 14th, commemorating the adoption of the original US Flag in 1777. More

The French colonization of Algeria begins as 34,000 French soldiers land at Sidi Ferruch, some 27 kilometers west of Algiers. This landing, part of a larger military expedition, aimed to overthrow the Regency of Algiers which was captured after a three-week campaign, and the dey (local ruler) fled into exile. Although Algeria was not fully conquered and pacified until 1903. It is estimated that by 1875, approximately 825,000 indigenous Algerians were killed. Various scholars describe the French conquest as genocide. French rule lasted until the end of the Algerian War, an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) from 1954 to 1962, which led to Algeria winning its independence from France on July 5, 1962. More

The capture of Retired Mexican General Vallejo at his home in Sonoma by ragtag group of about 30 armed Americans, marks the start of the short lived, California Republic or Bear Flag Republic, an unrecognized breakaway from Mexico, that for 25 days militarily controlled an area in and around what is now Sonoma County in California, north of San Francisco. Three weeks later, on July 5, 1846, the Republic's military of 100 to 200 men was subsumed into the California Battalion commanded by Captain John C. Frémont, who had encouraged the revolt. The battalion officially became the U.S. Army’s California Battalion, and went on to fight — this time officially, in the battle for California. More

Henry Flipper, at age 21, becomes the first African American graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. Born into slavery, Henry O. Flipper fought his way through prejudice and isolation to become the first commissioned Black officer in the U.S. Army. More

The Western Australian gold rush begins after significant gold discoveries around June 14, 1893 in Kalgoorlie. 

The first UNIVAC, acquired by the United States Census Bureau is dedicated. The UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic Computer I) was the first general-purpose electronic digital computer for business application produced in the U.S. Its design was started by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, the inventors of the ENIAC who owned EMCC. The company was acquired by Remington Rand which completed the work. (Remington Rand later became part of Sperry, now Unisys) More

The Falklands War ends as the Argentine garrison at Port Stanley surrenders to the British military. The Falkland Islands War was fought for the control of the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and its dependencies, a territory long disputed by the warring nations. More

TWA Flight 847 is hijacked by Mohammed Ali Hamadei and a second terrorist brandishing grenades and pistols during a routine flight from Athens to Rome. More