Today:
618 AD: Li Yuan becomes Emperor Gaozu of Tang, initiating three centuries of Tang dynasty rule over China.
1778: During the American Revolutionary War, the British Army evacuates Philadelphia after a nine-month occupation.
1798: President John Adams oversees the passage of the Naturalization Act, the first of the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts.
1812: The United States declares war on Great Britain, beginning the War of 1812.
1815: Napoleon Bonaparte is defeated at the Battle of Waterloo, marking the end of the Napoleonic era.
1873: Susan B. Anthony is fined $100 for attempting to vote in the 1872 presidential election.
1928: Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly in an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean (as a passenger).
1940: Charles de Gaulle broadcasts his “Appeal of 18 June” from London, rallying the French Resistance against German occupation.
1948: The 33⅓ rpm microgroove vinyl Long Playing (LP) record is introduced by Columbia Records.
1983: Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.