On June 18, 1983,

astronaut Sally K. Ride, 32, became America's first woman in space as she and four colleagues (commander Robert L. Crippen, pilot Frederick H. Hauck and Ride's fellow mission specialists John M. Fabian and Norman E. Thagard) blasted off aboard the space shuttle Challenger on a six-day mission.

In 1778,

American forces entered Philadelphia as the British withdrew during the Revolutionary War.

In 1812,

the War of 1812 began as the United States Congress approved, and President James Madison signed, a declaration of war against Britain.