249 years ago today
The Flag Act of 1777 — The Stars and Stripes Is Born
On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution, establishing that the flag of the United States would have thirteen stripes of red and white alternating, and thirteen stars on a blue field — "representing a new constellation." The resolution was brief and said nothing about how the stars should be arranged, or who should sew the first flag. Legend, almost certainly invented, would later attribute it to Betsy Ross. What is certain is that the act gave the struggling new nation a visual identity at a moment of profound uncertainty. The date is now celebrated annually as Flag Day in the United States. The flag has been modified 27 times as new states joined the Union, with the current 50-star design adopted in 1960 — a living document sewn in cloth, still changing with the nation it represents.
This day, across time
- 1645EventBattle of Naseby — English Civil War Turns
- 1775EventContinental Army Established
- 1777FeaturedThe Flag Act of 1777 — The Stars and Stripes Is Born
- 1800EventNapoleon Defeats Austria at Marengo
- 1801DiedBenedict Arnold
- 1811BornHarriet Beecher Stowe
- 1846EventBear Flag Revolt — California Republic Declared
- 1864BornAlois Alzheimer
- 1868BornKarl Landsteiner
- 1919EventFirst Nonstop Transatlantic Flight Departs
- 1920DiedMax Weber
- 1928BornChe Guevara
- 1928DiedEmmeline Pankhurst
- 1940EventGermany Occupies Paris
- 1946BornDonald Trump
- 1951EventUNIVAC I Dedicated
- 1969BornSteffi Graf
- 1982EventArgentina Surrenders in the Falklands War
- 1985EventSchengen Agreement Signed
- 1986DiedJorge Luis Borges
- 2017EventGrenfell Tower Fire Kills 72
Alive in 1777
OverlapSame years; not influence
Adam Smithturned 54 this year
Andrew Jacksonturned 10 this year
Benjamin Franklinturned 71 this year
Catherine II of Russiaturned 48 this year
George Washingtonturned 45 this year
Immanuel Kantturned 53 this year
James Cookturned 49 this year
James Madisonturned 26 this year
Jane Austenturned 2 this year
John Adamsturned 42 this year
10 more figures were alive that year
Step into the moment
Simulation · scenario
Setting Out from Tangier
Tangier, Morocco
Ibn Battuta, June 14, 1325. A simulation set on this date. The figure doesn’t know how the day ends.
Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar
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Step into the sceneOn This Day in History
11 EventsBattle of Naseby — English Civil War Turns
Parliamentary forces under Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell decisively defeat King Charles I's Royalist army at Naseby, effectively ending the first English Civil War and sealing Charles's fate.
Continental Army Established
The Second Continental Congress votes to create the Continental Army, the first unified military force of the American colonies, and the next day will appoint George Washington as its commander in chief.
Stars and Stripes Adopted as the American Flag
The Continental Congress passes the Flag Resolution, establishing the design of the American flag: thirteen alternating red and white stripes and thirteen stars on a blue field, representing the original colonies.
Napoleon Defeats Austria at Marengo
Napoleon's victory at the Battle of Marengo in northern Italy reverses a near-certain defeat and secures French dominance over northern Italy, cementing his political control over France at a crucial moment.
Bear Flag Revolt — California Republic Declared
American settlers in California revolt against Mexican rule and declare the short-lived California Republic, raising a hand-drawn flag featuring a grizzly bear — a precursor to California becoming a U.S. territory.
First Nonstop Transatlantic Flight Departs
British aviators John Alcock and Arthur Brown take off from St. John's, Newfoundland, beginning the first nonstop transatlantic flight. They will land in an Irish bog 16 hours and 27 minutes later, completing one of aviation's greatest achievements.
Germany Occupies Paris
German troops march into Paris unopposed after France's defenses collapse. The fall of Paris — one of the world's great cities — shocks the Allies and marks the effective end of France as an independent combatant nation.
UNIVAC I Dedicated
The UNIVAC I computer is formally dedicated at the U.S. Census Bureau — the first commercial computer sold in the United States and the dawn of the commercial computing age.
Argentina Surrenders in the Falklands War
Argentine forces in the Falkland Islands surrender to British forces, ending the 74-day Falklands War. The British victory, won against expectations, cemented Margaret Thatcher's political standing and cost over 900 lives on both sides.
Schengen Agreement Signed
Five European Economic Community nations sign the Schengen Agreement, eliminating border controls between them — the foundation of what would become the Schengen Area, allowing free movement across most of Europe.
Grenfell Tower Fire Kills 72
A fire breaks out in the Grenfell Tower apartment block in London's North Kensington, killing 72 people in the deadliest structural fire in the UK since World War II. The tragedy exposes profound failures in fire safety regulations and the treatment of social housing residents.
Born on This Day
Harriet Beecher Stowe
American Author & Abolitionist
Author of Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), the novel that Abraham Lincoln allegedly greeted her by saying 'So you are the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war.' It was the best-selling novel of the 19th century and one of the most influential books in American history, galvanizing anti-slavery sentiment in the North.
Che Guevara
Argentine-Cuban Revolutionary
One of the most iconic revolutionary figures of the 20th century, Guevara fought alongside Fidel Castro in the Cuban Revolution and then attempted to export armed revolution to Africa and Bolivia, where he was captured and executed in 1967. His bearded face became the most reproduced image in the world.
Alois Alzheimer
German Psychiatrist & Neuropathologist
The physician who in 1906 first identified and described the disease of presenile dementia that now bears his name — Alzheimer's disease — one of the most devastating neurological conditions affecting humanity.
Donald Trump
45th and 47th President of the United States
A real estate developer and television personality who won the 2016 presidential election as a Republican outsider and was elected again in 2024, Trump became one of the most polarizing figures in American political history, reshaping the Republican Party in his image.
Steffi Graf
German Tennis Player
The only tennis player in history — male or female — to win all four Grand Slam titles and an Olympic gold medal in the same year (1988), a feat known as the Golden Slam. Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles and is widely considered the greatest female tennis player of all time.
Karl Landsteiner
Austrian Biologist, Nobel Laureate
The physician who discovered the ABO blood group system in 1901, making safe blood transfusions possible and saving hundreds of millions of lives. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1930.
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Max Weber
German Sociologist & Philosopher
One of the founding figures of modern sociology, Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism and his analyses of bureaucracy, rationalization, and legitimate authority remain foundational texts of social science.
Emmeline Pankhurst
British Suffragette Leader
The founder of the Women's Social and Political Union and the most militant leader of the British suffragette movement, Pankhurst died just weeks before the Equal Franchise Act granted British women equal voting rights with men — the goal she had fought for decades.
Jorge Luis Borges
Argentine Writer
The Argentine master of the short story and essay, Borges created a body of work — including Ficciones and Labyrinths — that redefined the possibilities of fiction and influenced virtually every major novelist of the second half of the 20th century.
Benedict Arnold
American Revolutionary General & Traitor
Perhaps the most infamous traitor in American history, Arnold was one of the Continental Army's most brilliant early commanders before defecting to the British in 1780. He died in London, largely forgotten, his name permanently synonymous with betrayal.
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