Today:
1885: The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York Harbor. The statue, a gift from France, arrived in 350 pieces packed in more than 200 cases.
1928: Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, although as a passenger. The flight departed from Newfoundland, Canada, and landed in Wales, United Kingdom.
1930: The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act was signed into law by President Herbert Hoover. The act raised U.S. tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods, which contributed to the worsening of the Great Depression.
1940: France asked Germany for terms of surrender during World War II. The German forces had invaded France, leading to the fall of Paris and ultimately the country’s surrender.
1944: Iceland declared independence from Denmark and became a republic. This marked the end of a 25-year struggle for full independence.
1963: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Abington School District v. Schempp that mandatory Bible reading in public schools was unconstitutional.
1972: The Watergate break-in occurred. Five men were arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., leading to a major political scandal.
1991: The Parliament of South Africa repealed the Population Registration Act, which had required racial classification of all South Africans at birth and was a key component of apartheid.
1994: O.J. Simpson was involved in a low-speed chase in a white Ford Bronco, broadcast live on national television. He was later arrested for the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman.
2015: Nine people were killed in a mass shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The shooter, Dylann Roof, was apprehended the next day.