1884 – Cornerstone for Statue of Liberty laid on Bedloe’s Island in New York City.
1914 – 1st electric traffic light installed in the United States on the corner of East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio.
1914 – United States and Nicaragua sign treaty granting canal rights to US.
1917 – The entire US National Guard is taken into national service, subject to presidential rather than state control.
1924 – “Little Orphan Annie” comic strip by Harold Gray is 1st published in the New York Daily News.
1936 – American athlete Jesse Owens wins 200-meter in world record time (20.7 seconds), his 3rd gold medal of the Berlin Olympics.
1943 – World War II; at around 11 a.m. During the Battle of Troina, Mount Etna erupts, sending ash and lava miles into the sky.
1953 – “From Here to Eternity” based on book by James Jones, directed by Fred Zimmerman and starring Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift and Frank Sinatra is released (Academy Awards Best Picture 1954)
1961 – 117 degrees F, Ice Harbor Dam, Washington (state record)
1963 – Britain, United States and Soviet Union sign nuclear test ban treaty.
1964 – United States begins bombing North Vietnam in response to the real and imagined attacks on US Navy ships in the Gulf of Tonkin.
1973 – Atlanta Braves pitcher Phil Niekro no-hits San Diego Padres, 9-0; first no-hitter for franchise in Atlanta.
1981 – President Ronald Reagan fires 11,500 striking air traffic controllers.
1982 – PGA Championship, Southern Hills CC: Raymond Floyd fires an opening round 9-under par 63, tying the tournament 18-hole record.
1992 – Four officers of the Los Angeles Police Department are acquitted on charges of beating Rodney King and indicted on civil rights charges.
1999 – St. Louis slugger Mark McGwire becomes only the 16th MLB player to reach the 500 home run milestone as the Cardinals lose 10-2 to San Diego at Busch Stadium.
2006 – Warren Moon becomes the first black quarterback to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio; joined by Troy Aikman, John Madden, Rayfield Wright, Harry Carson and Reggie White.
2014 – President Barack Obama signs The Iron Dome Bill providing $225 million in additional funding for Israel’s Iron Dome defense.
2022 – Volkswagen launches a prototype of its first flying car, an automated, electric passenger vehicle nicknamed “Flying Tiger”
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