1775

The Continental Congress established the Post Office and appointed Benjamin Franklin its Postmaster-General.

1947

President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act, which reorganized America’s armed forces as the National Military Establishment and created the Central Intelligence Agency.

1953

Fidel Castro began his revolt against Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista with an unsuccessful attack on an army barracks in eastern Cuba. (Castro ousted Batista in 1959.)

2016

Hillary Clinton became the first woman to be nominated for president by a major political party at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.