Today:
1. 1858: Hymen Lipman patents the pencil with an attached eraser.
2. 1867: The United States purchases Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million.
3. 1870: The 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, granting African American men the right to vote, is adopted.
4. 1981: United States President Ronald Reagan is shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr. in Washington, D.C.
5. 2002: Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother of the United Kingdom passes away at the age of 101.
6. 2006: The United Kingdom enacts the Equality Act, prohibiting discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation in the provision of goods, facilities, and services.
7. 2010: President Barack Obama signs the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) into law.
8. 2019: The United Kingdom officially triggers Article 50, beginning the process of leaving the European Union (Brexit).
9. 2020: The Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, are postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
10. 2021: The container ship Ever Given is successfully refloated after being stuck in the Suez Canal for six days, disrupting global trade.