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Today in History: ‘Under God’ added to Pledge in 1954 by special measure

By The Associated Press

Today is Friday, June 14, the 165th day of 2019. There are 200 days left in the year. This is Flag Day.

Today’s Highlight

in History:

On June 14, 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a measure adding the phrase “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance.

On this date:

In 1775, the Continental Army, forerunner of the United States Army, was created.

In 1777, the Second Continental Congress approved the design of the original American flag.

In 1940, German troops entered Paris during World War II; the same day, the Nazis began transporting prisoners to the Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland.

In 1943, the U.S. Supreme Court, in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, ruled 6-3 that public school students could not be forced to salute the flag of the United States.

In 1968, Dr. Benjamin Spock and three other peace activists were convicted in Boston of conspiring to encourage young men to evade the draft during the Vietnam War. The Iron Butterfly single “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” was released by Atco Records.

In 1982, Argentine forces surrendered to British troops on the disputed Falkland Islands.

In 1985, the 17-day hijack ordeal of TWA Flight 847 began as a pair of Lebanese Shiite Muslim extremists seized the jetliner shortly after takeoff from Athens, Greece.

In 1986, death claimed Broadway librettist Alan Jay Lerner in New York at age 67; Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges in Geneva at age 86; and “Wild Kingdom” host Marlin Perkins in suburban St. Louis at age 81.

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