1776 – The second Continental Congress officially changed the new American nation’s name from “United Colonies” to “United States.”
1791 – Washington, D.C. is named after President George Washington.
1850 – California is admitted as the thirty-first state.
1956 – Elvis Presley appeared on national television for the first time – on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
1957 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the first civil rights bill to pass Congress since Reconstruction.
1965 – The Department of Housing and Urban Development is established.
1971 – More than 1,000 convicts took over the state prison at Attica, N.Y. and held hostages. The riot lasted 4 days and resulted in 39 deaths.
