George Washington was commissioned by the Continental Congress as commander in chief of the Continental Army.
1865
Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War was over, and that all remaining slaves in Texas were free – an event celebrated to this day as “Juneteenth.”
1917
During World War I, King George V ordered the British royal family to dispense with German titles and surnames; the family took the name “Windsor.”
1934
The Federal Communications Commission was created; it replaced the Federal Radio Commission.
1938
Four dozen people were killed when a railroad bridge in Montana collapsed, sending a train known as the Olympian hurtling into Custer Creek.
