Statue of Liberty dedicated
On this day in 1886 U.S. President Grover Cleveland officially dedicated the Statue of Liberty—a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States—on Bedloe’s (later Liberty) Island in Upper New York Bay. 1886.
American actor Matthew Perry, who played Chandler Bing on the hugely popular sitcom Friends (1994–2004), died at age 54 of “acute effects of ketamine,” an anesthetic drug. 2023.
Argentine lawyer and politician Cristina Fernández de Kirchner became the first woman elected president of Argentina. 2007.
Great Britain launched Prospero, its first Earth satellite. 1971
American actress Julia Roberts, whose deft performances in varied roles helped make her one of the highest-paid and most-influential actresses in the 1990s and early 2000s, was born. 1967.
American computer programmer and entrepreneur Bill Gates—who cofounded Microsoft, the world’s largest personal-computer software company—was born. 1955.
Harvard University, the oldest institute of higher learning in the United States, was founded by the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. 1636.
