On this date...

In 1782, George Washington created the “Badge for Military Merit” that would be presented to soldiers for “any singularly meritorious action.” It passed into disuse, but was revived in 1932 as the “Order of the Purple Heart.”

In 1775, At St. Augustine, West Florida -  The armed sloop Commerce, commanded by Captain Clement Lempriere, headed to St. Augustine to capture the gunpowder and military stores on the island. He learned that the HMS Betsy, commanded by Capt. Alvara Lofthouse, was sailing to St. Augustine and contained a huge supply of gunpowder.

The Commerce spotted the Betsy and pulled alongside it. The armed crew jumped on board the Betsy and quickly captured the sleeping crew. They were able to unload about 17,000 lbs. of gunpowder when the Commerce was spotted by the HMS St. John, coming out of the harbor. The Commerce departed the area and escaped with their stolen powder.

In 1789, the U.S. Department of War was established by Congress. This would later become the Department of Defense.

In 1864, Battle of Moorefield, West Virginia: Surprise Union raid kills 400 Confederates and captures 400 horses, badly damaging Confederate cavalry in the Shenandoah Valley

In 1909, Adventurous 22-year-old homemaker Alice Ramsey and three friends complete the first all-female cross-country road trip. With roads rugged and signage virtually nil, they took 59 days to drive from New York to San Francisco.

In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt is nominated for the presidency by the Progressive Party, a group of Republicans dissatisfied with the renomination of President William Howard Taft. Also known as the Bull Moose Party, the Progressive platform called for the direct election of U.S. senators, woman suffrage, reduction of the tariff and many social reforms.

In 1942, In the Allies' first major offensive in the Pacific theatre during World War II, U.S. Marines landed on Guadalcanal and captured the airfield from Japan, sparking a battle that lasted some six months.

In First US commemorative coin featuring an African American, Booker T. Washington

In 1953, with the Cold War in full force, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs into law the Refugee Relief Act (RRA) of 1953, providing U.S. visas primarily for refugees and escapees from communist countries.

In 1959, From the Atlantic Missile Range in Cape Canaveral, Florida, the U.S. unmanned spacecraft Explorer 6 is launched into an orbit around the earth.

In 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, giving President Lyndon B. Johnson broad powers in dealing with reported North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces.

In 1971, the Apollo 15 moon mission ended successfully as its command module splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.

In 1974, French-born Philippe Petit walked on a high wire between the newly built twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, about 1,350 feet (411 metres) above the ground. He was arrested, but the charges were later dismissed.

In 1978, U.S. Pres. Jimmy Carter declared a federal health emergency in Love Canal, a neighbourhood in Niagara Falls, New York, following the leakage of toxic chemicals buried under the community; it was the worst environmental disaster involving chemical wastes in U.S. history.

In 1990, President George H.W. Bush ordered U.S. troops and warplanes to Saudi Arabia to guard the oil-rich desert kingdom against a possible invasion by Iraq.

In 1998, terrorist bombs at U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.

In 2000, Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore chose Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman as his running mate, making him the first Jewish candidate on a major party ticket.