1776

The second Continental Congress formally adopted the name “United States of America,” replacing the “United Colonies of North America.”

1850

California was admitted as the 31st U.S. state.

1948

The People’s Democratic Republic of Korea (North Korea) was declared.

1957

Althea Gibson became the first Black tennis player to win the U.S. National Championships, which is now known as the U.S. Open.

1957

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the first civil rights bill to pass Congress since Reconstruction, a measure primarily concerned with protecting voting rights. It also established a Civil Rights Division in the U.S. Department of Justice.

1971

Prisoners seized control of the maximum-security Attica Correctional Facility near Buffalo, New York, taking 42 staff members hostage and demanding improvements to inmate treatment and living conditions.

Birthdays

Singer Dee Dee Sharp is 79. Actor Hugh Grant is 64. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., is 61. Pop-jazz singer Michael Bublé (boo-BLAY’) is 49. Actor Michelle Williams is 44. Country singer-songwriter Hunter Hayes is 33.