On this date:

In 1777, Gen. George Washington’s troops launched an assault on the British at Germantown, Pa., resulting in heavy American casualties.

In 1931, the comic strip “Dick Tracy,” created by Chester Gould, made its debut.

In 1959, the Soviet Union launched Luna 3, a space probe that transmitted images of the far side of the moon.

In 1965, Pope Paul VI became the first pope to visit the Western Hemisphere as he addressed the U.N. General Assembly.

In 1970, rock singer Janis Joplin, 27, was found dead in her Los Angeles hotel room.

In 1976, agriculture secretary Earl Butz resigned in a controversy over a joke he’d made about blacks.