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1787 - The United States Constitution is signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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1862 - Battle of Sharpsburg (Antietam) - bloodiest day of the US Civil War.

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1920 - The National Football League is organized in Canton, Ohio, USA.

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1937 - The head of Abraham Lincoln on Mount Rushmore is dedicated in Black Hills, South Dakota.

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1944 - British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery launches Operation Market Garden, with 14 divisions. Nearly 2000 American CG-4A and 700 British Horga and Hamilcar gliders are launched from southern England, carrying the British 2nd Army and the US 101st Airborne Division. They land along 60 miles of road in Holland, leading into Germany. The objective is to capture bridges at Grave, Nijmegen, and Arnhem over the Rhine river.

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1946 - US armed forces adopt military payment certificates for use as the sole medium of exchange in US army establishments of certain countries in Europe, Mediterranean, and Pacific areas.

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1947 - James Forrestal sworn in as first US secretary of defense.

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1952 - In the USA, "I am an American Day" and "Constitution Day" renamed "Citizenship Day".

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1957 - Scott Crossfield takes X-15 up for first powered flight.

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1959 - Transit 1A, first navigational satellite launched; failed to orbit.

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