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On This Day: 'Under God' added to Pledge of Allegiance

On June 14, 1954, the phrase "under God" was formally added to U.S. Pledge of Allegiance.
By UPI Staff   |   June 14, 2018 at 3:00 AM
Teachers and students recite the Pledge of Allegiance prior to the arrival of President Barack Obama at Buck Lodge Middle School in Adelphi, Md., on February 4, 2014. On June 14, 1954, the phrase "under God" was formally added to U.S. Pledge of Allegiance. File Photo by Pat Benic/UPI Adolf Hitler attending a Nazi party rally in Nuremberg, Germany, circa 1928. On June 14, 1940, German troops marched down Paris' Champs-Élysées as Allied forces abandoned the French capital. File Photo courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration A 24-story building containing more than 120 flats lies in ruins after catching fire in the early hours of June 14, 2017, killing nearly 80 people. File Photo Hugo Philpott/UPI Prime Minister Leo Varadkar of Ireland speaks during a meeting with President Donald J. Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 15. On June 14, 2017, Ireland's parliament elected Varadkar, the country's youngest and first openly gay prime minister. File Photo by Chris Kleponis/UPI

On this date in history:

In 1623, in the first breach-of-promise lawsuit in the United States, the Rev. Greville Pooley sued Cicely Jordan in Charles City, Va., for jilting him for another man.

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In 1775, the Continental Congress established the Army as the first U.S. military service.

In 1777, the Stars and Stripes became the national U.S. flag.

In 1922, Warren G. Harding became the first U.S. president to broadcast a message over the radio. The occasion was the dedication of the Francis Scott Key Memorial in Baltimore.

In 1933, the first Superman comic book -- Action Comic No. 1 -- was published.

File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

In 1940, German troops marched down Paris' Champs-Élysées as Allied forces abandoned the French capital.

In 1951, Univac I, the world's first commercial computer, designed for the U.S. Census Bureau, was introduced.

In 1954, the phrase "under God" was formally added to U.S. Pledge of Allegiance.

In 1982, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher announced a cease-fire with Argentina, bringing to an end the Falkland Islands War after 74 days.

In 1985, Shiite Muslim gunmen highjacked TWA Flight 847 carrying 153 passengers and crew from Athens to Rome. The ordeal ended 17 days later in Beirut, where one of the hostages, a U.S. sailor, was killed.

In 1990, flash floods killed at least 26 people and damaged or destroyed more than 800 homes in four eastern Ohio counties.

In 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton nominated federal Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. She succeeded Justice Byron White.

In 1998, the Chicago Bulls won their sixth NBA title in eight years and third in a row, defeating the Utah Jazz in the championship series.

In 1999, the South African National Assembly elected Thabo Mbeki as president, succeeding Nelson Mandela. Mbeki had served as deputy president under Mandela.

File Photo by Monika Graff/UPI

In 2002, U.S. Roman Catholic Church leaders adopted new rules for all dioceses calling for removal from active service of any priest found to have abused a minor and for the reporting of accusations to civil authorities.

In 2003, the Czech Republic voted overwhelmingly to join the European Union.

In 2008, heavy rains flooded Iowa and other Midwestern states, claiming at least 24 lives and damaging millions of acres of corn and soybeans.

In 2013, Hassan Rouhani was elected president of Iran.

In 2014, former NFL running back Rodney Thomas (Houston Oilers, Tennessee Titans, Atlanta Falcons) died in Groveton, Texas, of a heart attack at the age of 41.

In 2017, Ireland's parliament elected Leo Varadkar, the country's youngest and first openly gay prime minister.

In 2017, a fire at Grenfell Tower, a high-rise apartment building in west London, killed nearly 80 people.

In 2017, a gunman opened fire at a Republican team charity baseball practice in suburban Washington, D.C, seriously injuring House Republican Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana. The shooting also left three others injured by gunfire and two more sustained injuries trying to flee.

File Photo by Molly Riley/UPI