The modern United States receives its crowning star when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a proclamation admitting Hawaii into the
Union as the 50th state (above). The president also issued an order
for an American flag featuring 50 stars arranged in staggered rows:
five six-star rows and four five-star rows. The new U.S. flag became
official July 4, 1960.

Thomas T. Hall (May 25, 1936 – August 20, 2021)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tom T. Hall, the singer-songwriter
who composed “Harper Valley P.T.A.” and sang about life’s
simple joys as country music’s consummate blue collar bard,
has died.

His son, Dean Hall, confirmed the musician’s death on Friday
at his home in Franklin, Tennessee. Hall, known as “The
storyteller” for his unadorned yet incisive lyrics, composed
hundreds of songs.

On August 20, 1619, “20 and odd” Angolans, kidnapped by the Portuguese, arrived in the British colony of Virginia and were then bought by English colonists. The arrival of the enslaved Africans
in the New World marked the beginning of two and a half centuries
of slavery in North America.

CAMILLE BOHANNON

Singer Robert Anthony Plant is 73 today.

Plant is best known as the lead singer and lyricist
of the English rock band Led Zeppelin.