Slavery was outlawed in U.S. territories. President Abraham Lincoln outlined his Emancipation Proclamation. News of the document reached the south and Texas through General Gordon Granger.

1865 – Emancipation Day, also known as Juneteenth, was the day that Union General Granger informed Texas slaves that they were free. Blacks came to celebrate the day as Juneteenth Freedom Day.

1885 – The Statue of Liberty, a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of the United States, arrives in New York City’s harbor.

1868 – Attempting to convince hostile Indians to make peace with the United States, the Jesuit missionary Pierre-Jean De Smet meets with the great Sioux Chief Sitting Bull in present-day Montana.

1944 – In the early morning hours Japanese reconnaissance finds US Task Force 58 while remaining undetected. The Japanese immediately launch 372 aircraft, in four waves, to strike the American fleet.

1944 – “Ace of Aces” David McCampbell (1910-1996) and the Fabled 15 challenged 80 Japanese carrier based aircraft bearing down on an American fleet. He shot down 7 Zeroes and the group routed the enemy fliers at the Battle of the Marianas.

1945 – Millions of New Yorkers turned out to cheer Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was honored with a parade.

1945 – On Okinawa, the insistent use of propaganda by means of leaflets and loudspeakers, by the American forces, induces some 343 Japanese troops to surrender.

1947 – The first plane (F-80) to exceed 600 mph (1004 kph) was flown by Albert Boyd in Muroc, California.

1948 – USSR blocked access road to West Berlin.

1953 – Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, a married couple convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage in 1951, are put to death in the electric chair.

1973 – The Case-Church Amendment prevented further U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia.

2003 – In Iraq The special “Task Force 20” commando team was joined in the convoy operation by an AC-130 gunship and other air support, attacking by ground and air along a known escape and smuggling route near the western city of Qaim.