On This Day in History

SS United States (pictured) departed New York Harbor on her maiden voyage, on which completion she became the fastest ocean liner to cross the Atlantic.

Dan-Air Flight 1903 crashed into the slopes of the Montseny Massif in Catalonia, Spain, killing all 112 people aboard.

The Troubles: The British Army began the Falls Curfew in Belfast, Northern Ireland, which resulted in greater Irish republican resistance.

British singer David Bowie retired his stage persona Ziggy Stardust in a surprise announcement on the last day of a 17-month tour.

US president Jimmy Carter signed a presidential finding, authorizing covert operations to aid the mujahideen against the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

The US Navy warship Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.

Same-sex marriage became legal in Spain with the coming into effect of a law passed by the Cortes Generales.

General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi led a coalition to depose President Mohamed Morsi in a coup d'état in Cairo, suspending the Egyptian Constitution of 2012.

In Arizona, the Boundary Fire (pictured) burned out after 32 days, burning 17,788 acres (7,199 ha) of the Coconino and Kaibab National Forests.