Wednesday · November 11, 2026
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American history, reported as it happened
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Assange pleads guilty in Saipan, sentenced to time served; he lands in Canberra a free man

The WikiLeaks founder admits to one Espionage Act count before Judge Manglona, ending fourteen years of extradition battles that ran from the Ecuadorian Embassy to Belmarsh Prison.

For fourteen years, Julian Assange had been fighting extradition to the United States — first from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, then from a cell in Belmarsh Prison where he spent 23 hours a day in confinement. On June 26, 2024, that chapter closed: the WikiLeaks founder stepped off a plane in Canberra, greeted by his wife Stella and his father John Shipton, after pleading guilty in a Saipan courtroom to a single Espionage Act charge of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified U.S. national defence documents. Judge Ramona Villagomez Manglona sentenced him to time served, and Assange flew home…

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More from June 26
1945

50 nations sign the United Nations Charter in San Francisco

China signs first, as the nation that bore Axis aggression longest; delegates from all 50 Allied powers file through the Herbst Theatre to add their names.
1948

Clay orders supply flights into Tempelhof; the question now is whether the air can feed two million

Stalin sealed every land route into West Berlin days ago, betting the Allies would negotiate their way out rather than try to sustain a city from the sky.
2015

Supreme Court rules 5-4: every state must license and recognize same-sex marriage

Kennedy's majority finds the Fourteenth Amendment settles the question; the ruling consolidates six cases from four states and reaches all 50 states and U.S. territories.
17401776 Club
Spanish regulars, free black militia, and Seminole warriors hit the 170-man British garrison two hours before it stirred, wrecking Oglethorpe's drive on St. Augustine.
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More from Modern America
2001

American bombs fall on Afghanistan; Bush says "time is running out"

Air strikes hit Taliban defenses and al-Qaeda camps as U.S. special forces move in to back the Northern Alliance.
2000

A small boat pulls alongside the USS Cole; the blast kills 17 sailors in line for lunch

Two suicide bombers detonate explosives against the destroyer's hull while it refuels in Aden harbor.
1997

A Titan IVB rises from Cape Canaveral, carrying Cassini toward Saturn

The seven-year voyage begins with 72 pounds of plutonium and a DVD of 616,400 signatures tucked aboard.
2001

Apple shows a white box the size of a deck of cards: 1,000 songs in your pocket

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