On June 20, 1782, Congress adopted the Great Seal of the United
States after six years of discussion.

Charles Thomson was secretary of the Continental
Congress (1774 – 1789). He is also known for co-
designing the Great Seal of the United States.

Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider, and Richard Dreyfuss.

On June 20, 1975, Jaws, a film directed by Steven Spielberg that
made countless viewers afraid to go into the water, opened in
theaters. The story of a great white shark that terrorizes a New
England resort town became an instant blockbuster and the
highest-grossing film in movie history until it was bested by
1977’s Star Wars.

Jaws was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Picture
category and took home three Oscars, for Best Film Editing,
Best Original Score and Best Sound. The film, a breakthrough
for director Spielberg, then 27 years old, spawned several
sequels.

Jaws put now-famed director Steven Spielberg on the
Hollywood map.

Director Steven Spielberg holding the movie camera,
assisted by camera operator Michael Chapman, during
the filming of Jaws.

Bruce the mechanical shark.

Phillis Wheatley Peters (c. 1753 – December 5, 1784)

Phillis Wheatley, the first published African American poet, used
biblical themes to persuade believers in Christ to abolish slavery.

Born around 1753 in western Africa, Wheatley was sold to a slave
trader at only seven years of age. Quickly distinguishing herself
as a remarkable student, she finally secured her emancipation in
1773.

She once wrote, “In every human Breast, God has implanted a
Principle, which we call Love of Freedom; It is impatient of
Oppression, and pants for Deliverance; and . . . the same
Principle lives in us.”

Statue of Phillis Wheatley in Boston by Meredith Bergmann, dedicated in 2003.

In what is now known as Juneteenth, on June 19, 1865,
Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas with news
that the Civil War was over and slavery in the United
States is abolished.

A mix of June and 19th, Juneteenth has become a day
to commemorate the end of slavery in America. Despite
the fact that President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation
Proclamation was issued more than two years earlier on
January 1, 1863, a lack of Union troops in the rebel state
of Texas made the order difficult to enforce.        
        
       

The holiday is considered the "longest-running African-American holiday"^[ and has been called "America’s second Independence
Day."

June 18, 1812: The day after the Senate followed the House
of Representatives in voting to declare war against Great
Britain, President James Madison signed the declaration
into law—and the War of 1812 began.

   
With an American victory on Lake Champlain, on December
24, 1814, the Treaty of Ghent was signed, formally ending
the War of 1812.

James Madison (1750 – 1836) 

Madison served as the fourth president of the United
States from 1809 to 1817.

He had pivotal role in drafting and promoting the
Constitution of the United States and the Bill of
Rights.