On this day for the United States
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Events
- 1735 – Freedom of the press: New York Weekly Journal writer John Peter Zenger is acquitted of seditious libel against the royal governor of New York, on the basis that what he published was true.
- 1763 – Pontiac's War: Battle of Bushy Run – British forces led by Henry Bouquet defeat Chief Pontiac's Indians at Bushy Run.
- 1812 – War of 1812: Tecumseh's Indian force ambushes Thomas Van Horne's 200 Americans at Brownstone Creek, causing them to flee and retreat.
- 1861 – American Civil War: In order to help pay for the war effort, the United States government issues the first income tax as part of the Revenue Act of 1861 (3% of all incomes over US $800; rescinded in 1872).
- 1861 – The United States Army abolished flogging.
- 1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Baton Rouge – Along the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Confederate troops drive Union forces back into the city.
- 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Mobile Bay begins – At Mobile Bay near Mobile, Alabama, Admiral David Farragut leads a Union flotilla through Confederate defenses and seals one of the last major Southern ports.
- 1882 – Standard Oil of New Jersey is established.
- 1884 – The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor.
- 1914 – In Cleveland, Ohio, the first electric traffic light is installed.
- 1957 – American Bandstand, a show dedicated to the teenage "baby–boomers" by playing the songs and showing popular dances of the time, debuts on the ABC television network.
- 1963 – United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union sign a nuclear test ban treaty.
- 1964 – Vietnam War: Operation Pierce Arrow – American aircraft from carriers USS Ticonderoga and USS Constellation bomb North Vietnam in retaliation for strikes attacked U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.
- 1969 – Mariner program: Mariner 7 makes its closest fly–by of Mars (3,524 kilometers).
- 1974 – Vietnam War: The U.S. Congress places a $1 billion dollar limit on military aid to South Vietnam.
- 1981 – Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 striking air–traffic controllers who ignored his order for them to return to work.