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Today in History, June 14th

On June 14, 1777, Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes, the origin of Flag Day. Plus the U.S. Army's founding and the fall of Paris.

By Today in History Updated November 10, 2026 3 min read Sources checked

Published June 14, 2026 · Last updated November 10, 2026

June 14 is best known as Flag Day, marking the day in 1777 when the Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as the national flag. The date also saw the founding of the U.S. Army in 1775 and German troops marching into Paris in 1940.

The big story: Congress adopts the Stars and Stripes (1777)

On June 14, 1777, in the middle of the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress settled what the new nation’s flag should look like. Its resolution called for thirteen stripes alternating red and white, and thirteen white stars on a blue field. The stripes weren’t new. The Grand Union flag the Continental Army carried in 1776 already had 13 of them. Who sewed the first version is another matter. Legend credits Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross, working at George Washington’s request, but historians have never been able to prove or disprove it. As new states joined, Congress at first added both stripes and stars, a plan that clearly could not last. In 1818 it went back to 13 stripes for good and kept only the stars growing. The flag’s 100th birthday in 1877 brought the first national observance, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed a Flag Day in 1916, and Congress officially designated June 14 as Flag Day in 1949.

More events on June 14

Year	What happened
1775	The Continental Congress created the U.S. Army, starting by authorizing companies of expert riflemen.
1789	Capt. William Bligh and 18 others reached Timor after mutineers on HMS Bounty set them adrift.
1846	American settlers in California rebelled against Mexican rule and declared the short-lived California Republic.
1877	Henry Ossian Flipper became the first African American to graduate from West Point.
1900	The Hawaii Organic Act took effect, setting up U.S. territorial government in the islands.
1940	German troops entered and occupied Paris.
1940	The first transport of Polish political prisoners arrived at Auschwitz.
1946	The United States presented the Baruch Plan for international control of atomic weapons to the United Nations.
1951	The U.S. Census Bureau dedicated UNIVAC, the first commercially produced electronic digital computer in the U.S.
1982	Argentina’s garrison at Port Stanley surrendered to Britain, ending the Falklands War.
2009	Phil Jackson won a record 10th NBA championship as a coach when the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Orlando Magic.
2017	A fire at Grenfell Tower, a London apartment block, killed 72 people.

Born on June 14

1736: Charles-Augustin de Coulomb, French physicist behind Coulomb’s law of electrical force.
1811: Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” born in Litchfield, Connecticut.
1969: Steffi Graf, German tennis star who won seven Wimbledon singles titles.