Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

1756

In India, a group of British soldiers was imprisoned in a suffocating cell that gained notoriety as the ''Black Hole of Calcutta.'' Most of them died.

1782

Congress approved the Great Seal of the United States.

1791

King Louis XVI of France attempted to flee the country in the so-called Flight to Varennes, but was caught.

1837

Queen Victoria ascended the British throne following the death of her uncle, King William IV.

1863

West Virginia became the 35th state.

1893

A jury in New Bedford, Mass., found Lizzie Borden innocent of the ax murders of her father and stepmother.

1943

34 people were killed and over 400 were injured in the Detroit race riots, which broke out after a false rumor spread that a white mob had thrown a Black woman and her baby into the Detroit River.

1947

Benjamin ''Bugsy'' Siegel was shot dead in Beverly Hills, Calif., at the order of mob associates angered over the soaring costs of his pet project, the Flamingo resort in Las Vegas, Nev.

1948

The variety series ''Toast of the Town,'' hosted by Ed Sullivan, debuted on CBS-TV. The program became ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' in 1955.

1963

The United States and Soviet Union agreed to establish the Washington-Moscow hotline, which would allow American and Soviet leaders to communicate directly with each other in an emergency.

1967

Boxer Muhammad Ali was convicted in Houston of violating Selective Service laws by refusing to be drafted. The conviction was later overturned by the Supreme Court.

1975

The movie Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg, was released in theaters and would earn a then-record $7 million in its first weekend in theaters.

1979

ABC News correspondent Bill Stewart is shot dead by a Nicaraguan National Guard soldier under the regime of Anastasio Somoza Debayle during the Nicaraguan Revolution. The murder is caught on tape and sparks an international outcry against the regime.

1994

O.J. Simpson pleaded innocent in Los Angeles to the killing of his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend Ronald Goldman.

1997

The tobacco industry agreed to a massive settlement in exchange for major relief from mounting lawsuits and legal bills.

1999

As the last of 40,000 Yugoslav troops left Kosovo, NATO declared a formal end to its bombing campaign against Yugoslavia.

2018

President Donald Trump signed an executive order officially ending the separation of immigrant children from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border.