1775 - The Continental Congress issued its first paper currency.
The currency was not supported by gold or silver, and quickly became worthless.
1808 - Zebulon Pike reached the mountain peak that bears his name.
1868 - Arkansas was re-admitted to the Union.
1870 - Congress created the Department of Justice.
Before that time, federal law enforcement was unorganized, and U.S. attorneys were independent.
1937 - Joe Louis became heavyweight boxing champion of the world, defeating Jim Braddock in the 8th round of a match in Chicago.
1938 - Joe Louis beat the German boxer Max Schmeling in a match that the Nazis had promoted in advance as a triumph of the Aryan race. The fight lasted two minutes and four seconds.
1944 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the GI Bill.
This piece of legislation provided education and vocational training and low-cost housing loans for returning veterans. Over 7 million veterans attended college or received some kind of training, boosting the number of engineers and other professionals that contributed to U.S. industrial superiority over the next 20 years. It changed the college landscape from one of privileged young men to a more meritocratic and professionally oriented system.
1945 - The Battle of Okinawa ended. More than 13,000 American military personnel had died
and ten times as many Japanese military and civilians.1970 - President Richard Nixon signed a federal law setting the minimum voting age to 18.
There was tremendous pressure at the time to allow those old enough to serve in the Vietnam War to vote.
The U.S. Supreme Court subsequently ruled that Congress had the power to set the voting age for federal elections but not for state or local elections. As a result, Congress proposed a constitutional amendment to the states, which was passed in the shortest time of any amendment.
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1977 - Former U.S. Attorney General John Mitchell went to prison for his role in the Watergate cover-up. He remains the highest-ranking U.S. official to go to prison for actions committed in office.
- Jim