History for June 14

History for June 14 - On-This-Day.com:

June 14, 2014

Flag Day (US)

 

Birth anniversary of American author Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896). Stowe penned the antislavery bestseller Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852).

 

150th birth anniversary of German psychiatrist and pathologist Alois Alzheimer (1864-1915).

 

Happy Birthday! Boy George, Steffi Graf, Donald Trump

 

1775 - The Continental Army was founded by the Second 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." On May 20, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson officially proclaimed June 14 "Flag Day" as a commemoration of the "Stars and Stripes." 


1834 - Cyrus Hall McCormick received a patent for his reaping machine. 


1834 - Isaac Fischer Jr. patented sandpaper. 


1846 - A group of U.S. settlers in Sonoma proclaimed the Republic of California. 


1893 - Philadelphia observed the first Flag Day. 


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. 


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. 


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. 


1982 - Argentine forces surrendered to British troops on the Falkland Islands. 


1990 - The U.S. Supreme Court upheld police checkpoints that are used to examine drivers for signs of intoxication.