1972 – The arrest of five White House operatives sets off the Watergate scandal--The men were caught attempting to wiretap the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex. The scandal ultimately led to U.S. President Richard Nixon’s resignation.
1944 – Iceland becomes a republic-- The Nordic island country had previously been included in the Norwegian and Danish monarchies. The republic’s first President was Sveinn Björnsson.
1940 – The three Baltic states fall under Soviet occupation--While the world’s attention was focused on the recent German invasion of Paris, the Soviet Union annexed Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
1928 – Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly across the Atlantic--Wilmer Stultz piloted the Fokker F.VII aircraft, Earhart kept the flight log. They arrived at Burry Port in Wales, the United Kingdom, 20 hours and 40 minutes later.
1885 – The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York--Hundreds of thousands of spectators welcomed the emblematic statue, which was a gift to the United States from the people of France and has become one of the country’s most recognized symbols.
Births
1980 – Venus Williams--American tennis player 1945 – Ken Livingstone--British politician 1945 – Eddy Merckx--Belgian cyclist 1898 – M. C. Escher--Dutch illustrator 1882 – Igor Stravinsky--Russian composer Deaths
2012 – Rodney King-American victim of police brutality 1996 – Curt Swan--American illustrator 1981 – Richard O’Connor--British army general