1381: The Peasant’s Revolt, led by Wat Tyler, climaxed when rebels marched on London. They plundered, burned and captured the Tower of London and killed the Archbishop of Canterbury. The revolt was in response to a statute intended to hold down wages during a labor shortage.
1775: The Continental Army was founded by the Continental Congress for purposes of common defense. This event is considered to be the birth of the United States Army. On June 15, George Washington was appointed commander-in-chief.
1777: The Continental Congress in Philadelphia adopted the "Stars and Stripes" as the national flag of the United States. The Flag Resolution stated "Resolved: that the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation."
1789: Captain William Bligh of the HMS Bounty arrived in Timor in a small boat.
1834: Cyrus Hall McCormick received a patent for his reaping machine.
1834: Isaac Fischer Jr. patented sandpaper.
1841: The first Canadian parliament opened in Kingston.
1846: A group of U.S. settlers in Sonoma proclaimed the Republic of California.
1864: Alois Alzheimer was born. He was a psychiatrist/pathologist, and in 1907 he wrote an article describing the disease that is named for him.
1893: Philadelphia observed the first Flag Day.
1900: Hawaii became a U.S. territory.
1907: Women in Norway won the right to vote.
1917: General John Pershing arrived in Paris during World War I.
1919: The first non-stop trans-Atlantic flight began. Captain John Alcot and Lt. Arthur Brown flew from Newfoundland to Ireland.
1922: Warren G. Harding became the first U.S. president to be heard on radio. The event was the dedication of the Francis Scott Key memorial at Fort McHenry.
1927: Nicaraguan President Adolfo Diaz signed a treaty with the U.S. allowing American intervention in his country.
1932: U.S. Representative Edward Eslick died on the floor of the House of Representatives while pleading for the passage of the bonus bill.
1940: The Nazis opened their concentration camp at Auschwitz in German-occupied Poland.
1940: German troops entered Paris. As Paris became occupied loud speakers announced the implementation of a curfew being imposed for 8 p.m.
1943: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that schoolchildren could not be made to salute the U.S. flag if doing so conflicted with their religious beliefs.
1944: Sixty U.S. B-29 Superfortress' attacked an iron and steel works factory on Honshu Island. It was the first U.S. raid against mainland Japan.
1945: Burma was liberated by Britain.
1949: The state of Vietnam was formed.
1951: "Univac I" was unveiled. It was a computer designed for the U.S. Census Bureau and billed as the world's first commercial computer.
1952: The Nautilus was dedicated. It was the first nuclear powered submarine.
1954: U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an order adding the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance.
1954: Americans took part in the first nation-wide civil defense test against atomic attack.
1965: A military triumvirate took control in Saigon, South Vietnam.
1967: Mariner 5 was launched from Cape Kennedy, FL. The space probe's flight took it past Venus.
1982: Argentine forces surrendered to British troops on the Falkland Islands.
1983: Five people were killed in a wing of a Ramada Inn in Fort Worth, TX. The fire began in stacked rolls of carpet and padding, the fumes that ensued were toxic.
1985: The 17-day hijacking of TWA flight 847 began. The hijackers were Lebanese Shiite Muslim extremists.
1987: The Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA title by defeating the defending Boston Celtics.
1989: Former U.S. President Reagan received an honorary knighthood from Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.
1989: Zsa Zsa Gabor was arrested in Beverly Hills for slapping a motorcycle policeman.
1990: The U.S. Supreme Court upheld police checkpoints that are used to examine drivers for signs of intoxication.
1992: The Chicago Bulls won the NBA championship beating the Portland Trailblazers.
1994: The New York Rangers won the Stanley Cup by defeating the Vancouver Canucks. It was the first time the Rangers had won the cup in 54 years.
1995: Chechen rebels took 2,000 people hostage in a hospital in Russia.
1996: The FBI released that the White House had done bureau background reports on at leat 408 people without justification.
2002: Twelve people were killed and 50 were injured when a car bomb was used to attack the U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan.
2002: Actor Kirk Douglas received the UCLA Medal. The award is presented to people for cultural, political and humanitarian achievements.
