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On This Day: Founding Fathers propose 'E pluribus unum' as U.S. motto

On August 10, 1776, a committee of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson suggested the United States adopt "E pluribus unum" -- "Out of many, one" -- as the motto for its Great Seal.

By UPI Staff
On August 10, 1776, a committee of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson suggested the United States adopt "E pluribus unum" -- "Out of many, one" -- as the motto for its Great Seal. File Photo by Chris Kleponis/UPI
1 of 6 | On August 10, 1776, a committee of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson suggested the United States adopt "E pluribus unum" -- "Out of many, one" -- as the motto for its Great Seal. File Photo by Chris Kleponis/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 10 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1776, a committee of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson suggested the United States adopt "E pluribus unum" -- "Out of many, one" -- as the motto for its Great Seal.

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In 1920, Francisco "Pancho" Villa surrendered to Mexican authorities -- and drowned his sorrows in a bottle of cognac.

In 1962, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and three other civil rights leaders were found guilty of disorderly conduct charges in Albany, Ga. Judge Adie Durden fined each $200 and sentenced them to 60 days in jail, but immediately suspended the sentences and placed King and his associates on probation.

UPI File Photo

In 1977, 24-year-old postal employee David Berkowitz was arrested and charged with being the "Son of Sam," the serial killer who terrorized New York City for more than a year, killing six young people and wounding seven others. Berkowitz was sentenced to life in prison.

In 1980, Hurricane Allen made landfall along the Texas coast, killing 24 people there and in Louisiana. The storm killed a 269 people through the Caribbean, Mexico and United States.

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In 1991, China agreed in principle to sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.

In 1993, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was sworn in as the U.S. Supreme Court's 107th justice.

In 1993, three ships collided with one another in Tampa Bay, Fla., spilling 336,000 gallons of fuel oil into the water. No one was killed. The incident marked the first time officials used a computerized trajectory model to track the location of an oil spill.

In 1996, Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole selected former congressman, Cabinet secretary and NFL quarterback Jack Kemp as his running mate.

File Photo by Ezio Petersen/UPI

In 2003, more than 80 inmates tunneled their way out of Brazil's Joao Pessoa prison, one of the nation's top security facilities.

In 2017, President Donald Trump said opioid addiction "is a serious problem the likes of which we have never had" and declared a national emergency over the crisis.

In 2021, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation in the wake of a damning attorney general's report that found he'd sexually harassed nearly a dozen women in recent years.

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In 2023, a non-profit rescue team recovered 17 bodies while 33 remained missing after a boat carrying Rohingya Muslims capsized near Myanmar while sailing to Malaysia.

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