25 Years Ago

August 3, 1981 Members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization illegally go on strike. President Ronald Reagan announces that those who do not return to work will lose their job.

August 19, 1981 U.S. Navy
jets shoot down two Libyan
fighters that had opened fire on them over the Gulf of Sidra. Libya claimed the entire gulf as its
territory, while the United States insisted it was international water.

September 21, 1981 Sandra Day O’Connor is confirmed as the first female justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

175 Years Ago

August 10, 1831 Capt. William Driver of the brig Charles Daggett hoists the American flag and says, “I name thee Old Glory.”
It is the first recorded use of that nickname.

200 Years Ago

September 23, 1806 The U.S. Corps of Discovery, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, brings its two-and-a-half-year
expedition to a close by returning to St. Louis.

225 Years Ago

August 1, 1781 British troops led by Gen. Charles Cornwallis occupy Yorktown, Virginia, expecting supplies and reinforcements to arrive soon by sea. On August 30 a French fleet led by Adm. François de Grasse arrives; French soldiers land the next day, and between September 5 and 8 the French drive off a British relief fleet. Further French and Continental reinforcements arrive, and by the end of the month the British are under siege.

September 8, 1781 British troops led by Gen. Benedict Arnold sack, loot, and burn New London, Connecticut.