Events
- 1776 - South Carolina became the first American colony to declare its independence from Great Britain and set up its own government.
- 1781 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Guilford Courthouse - Near present-day Greensboro, North Carolina, 1,900 British troops under General Charles Cornwallis defeat an American force numbering 4,400.
- 1783 - In an emotional speech in Newburgh, New York, George Washington asks his officers not to support the Newburgh Conspiracy. The plea is successful and the threatened coup d'etat never takes place.
- 1820 - Maine becomes the 23rd U.S. state.
- 1873 - Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity is founded at Massachusetts Agricultural College.
- 1916 - President Woodrow Wilson sends 12,000 United States troops over the U.S.-Mexico border to pursue Pancho Villa.
- 1919 - The American Legion forms in Paris.
- 1963 - Victor Feguer, a Federal prisoner, is put to death at the Fort Madison, Iowa prison. This is the last execution of a Federal prisoner until the execution of Timothy McVeigh in 2001.
- 1965 - President Lyndon B. Johnson, responding to Selma crisis, tells U.S. Congress "We shall overcome" while advocating the Voting Rights Act.
- 1985 - The first Internet domain name is registered (symbolics.com).
- 1989 - The United States Department of Veterans Affairs is established.
- 1991 - Germany formally regains complete independence after the four post-World War II occupying powers (France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union) relinquish all remaining rights.