John Adams Jr. (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826)

On September 27, 1779, the Continental Congress appointed John
Adams to travel to France as minister plenipotentiary in charge
of negotiating treaties of peace and commerce with Great Britain
during the Revolutionary War.

Adams had traveled to Paris in 1778 to negotiate an alliance with
France, but had been unceremoniously dismissed when Congress
chose Benjamin Franklin as sole commissioner. 

After returning to Massachusetts in mid-1779, Adams was elected
as a delegate to the state convention to draw up a new constitution;
he was involved in these duties when he learned of the diplomatic
commission.

Signing the Preliminary Treaty of Peace at Paris, by Carl
Wilhelm Anton Seiler, 1904.

TIM MAGUIRE

The American flag was flown in battle for the first time, during a Revolutionary
War skirmish at Cooch’s Bridge, Delaware. Patriot General William Maxwell
ordered the stars and strips banner raised as a detachment of his infantry
and cavalry met an advance guard of British and Hessian troops. The rebels
were defeated and forced to retreat to General George Washington’s main
force near Brandywine Creek in Pennsylvania.

Three months before, on June 14, the Continental Congress adopted a
resolution stating that “the flag of the United States be thirteen alternate
stripes red and white” and that “the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue
field, representing a new Constellation.” The national flag, which became
known as the “Stars and Stripes,” was based on the “Grand Union” flag,
a banner carried by the Continental Army in 1776 that also consisted of
13 red and white stripes. According to legend, Philadelphia seamstress
Betsy Ross designed the new canton for the Stars and Stripes, which
consisted of a circle of 13 stars and a blue background, at the request
of General George Washington. Historians have been unable to
conclusively prove or disprove this legend.

With the entrance of new states into the United States after independence,
new stripes and stars were added to represent new additions to the Union.

In 1818, however, Congress enacted a law stipulating that the 13 original
stripes be restored and that only stars be added to represent new states.

Retired singer Kenneth Ray Rogers is 81 today.

Kenny Rogers and The First Edition, sometimes billed as The First Edition, was an eclectic rock band whose styles ranged from rock
and roll to R&B, folk, and country.

Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers

Boris Yeltsin (right) with Mikhail Gorbachev after the failure of the
August 21, 1991 coup.

Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev returns to Moscow from the
Crimea on August 22, 1991 after a hardline coup failed.

It was on this day in 1940.

Nat Turner, a former slave, led a violent insurrection in Virginia on
this day in 1831. He was later executed.

Hawaii became the 50th state on this day in 1959. President Dwight
D. Eisenhower (second from left) also issued the order for the 50
star flag.

After signing Executive Order adding 50th star to US flag, for Hawaii, President Eisenhower (third from left) holds up the new flag.

Kenneth Ray Rogers is 80 years old today. He was born in Houston,
TX.

Country icon Kenny Rogers has sold more than 100 million albums over
the course of his career. His 1970s albums The Gambler and Kenny went
5x platinum and 3x platinum, respectively. In 2013, he was inducted into
the Country Music Hall of Fame.