On this date...

In 1652, Massachusetts declared itself an independent commonwealth.

In 1767, Britain approved the Townshend Revenue Act, which imposed import duties on glass, paint, oil, lead, paper, and tea shipped to the American colonies. (Colonists bitterly protested, prompting Parliament to repeal the duties on each of the products — except for tea.)

In 1776, delegates to the fifth Revolutionary Convention in Virginia adopted the state’s first independent constitution and selected Patrick Henry as their governor. He was sworn in on July 6, 1776.

In 1776, Reports rush into headquarters that about 45 enemy ships have reached Sandy Hook, with more vessels in sight. Washington believes the whole British fleet will soon arrive. His own force is dangerously thin, since the militia ordered for the city has arrived slowly. That urgency shapes his letter to William Livingston, the New Jersey political leader. Washington asks that “not a moments time” be lost in sending militia forward. Companies meant for Staten Island must come to New York immediately.

In 1804, Privates John Collins and Hugh Hall of the Lewis and Clark Expedition were found guilty by a court-martial consisting of members of the Corps of Discovery for getting drunk on duty. Collins receives 100 lashes on his back, and Hall receives 50.

In 1835, Determined to win independence for the Mexican State of Texas, William Travis raised a volunteer army of 25 soldiers and prepared to liberate the city of Anahuac.

In 1862, Confederate General Robert E. Lee attacked Union General George McClellan as he was pulling his army away from Richmond, Virginia, in retreat during the Seven Days’ Battles.

In 1936, George M. Cohan was the first artist to receive a U.S. Congressional Gold Medal from Franklin D. Roosevelt (for raising wartime morale).

In 1953, the Oklahoma governor declared today “Maria Tallchief Day” in honor of Native American prima ballerina Maria Tallchief.

IN 1954, the US Atomic Energy Commission voted to revoke Dr. Robert Oppenheimer’s security clearance, effectively ending his career as a nuclear physicist.

In 1956, Hollywood film actress Marilyn Monroe marries playwright Arthur Miller in a four-minute civil ceremony at the Westchester County Courthouse in New York State.

In 1956, the US Federal Interstate Highway System Act was signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda. Maryland.

In 1964, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed the US Senate after a 60-working-day filibuster by Southern senators.

In 1964, NBC approved Gene Roddenberry’s script for the pilot episode of “Star Trek” titled “The Cage”.

In 1969, a crowd consisting mostly of Black people from the nearby area packed Harlem’s Mt. Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park). Over the course of this afternoon and the next five Sunday afternoons, Black performers from many different genres and eras appear on the park’s brightly colored, sunlit stage in a dazzling series of shows known as the Harlem Cultural Festival.

In 1970, the United States ended a two-month military offensive in Cambodia.

In 1972, in Furman v. Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that capital punishment, as it is currently employed at the state and federal levels, is unconstitutional.

In 1974, while on tour with the Kirov (now Mariinsky) Ballet in Toronto, Mikhail Baryshnikov defected from the Soviet Union, citing artistic reasons, and he later settled in the United States.

In 1978, US Vice President Walter Mondale began a trip to the Middle East.

In 1984, Montreal Expos infielder Pete Rose played in his record 3,309th MLB game, surpassing Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox.

In 1992, A divided Supreme Court ruled that women have a constitutional right to abortion, but the justices also weakened the right as defined in the Roe v. Wade decision.

In 1995, the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis docked with Russia’s Mir space station as they orbited the Earth.

In 2002, US Vice President Dick Cheney served as acting president for two and a half hours while President George W. Bush underwent a colonoscopy

In 2004, Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks became the fourth pitcher in major league history to record 4,000 career strikeouts.

In 2006, the Supreme Court ruled, 5-3, that President George W. Bush’s plan to try Guantanamo Bay detainees in military tribunals violated U.S. and international law.

In 2009, disgraced financier Bernard Madoff received a 150-year sentence for his multibillion-dollar fraud. (Madoff died in prison in April 2021.)

In 2007, Apple released the first iPhone; see the original press release.

In 2022, R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison for using his R&B superstardom to subject young fans to sexual abuse. The singer and songwriter was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking the previous year.

In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College effectively ended race-based affirmative action in college admissions in the United States.