1. On June 16, 1791, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill became the first public university in the United States to admit students. Today, UNC-Chapel Hill is one of the top public universities in the country, and boasts a long history of academic and athletic excellence.

2. In 1903, the Wright Brothers made their first free-flight tests of a powered airplane in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The tests were crucial steps in the development of modern aviation, and led to the Wright Brothers' historic first flight at Kitty Hawk later that year.

3. On June 16, 1963, civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech at the North Carolina College for Negroes (later renamed North Carolina Central University) in Durham. Dr. King's speech, entitled "Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution," called for an end to segregation and discrimination in the United States.

4. In 1983, the Raleigh-Durham International Airport opened its current terminal building. Today, RDU is the second-busiest airport in North Carolina, and serves millions of passengers each year.

5. On June 16, 2015, the North Carolina General Assembly voted to remove the Confederate flag from license plates in the state. The decision came in the wake of controversy surrounding the flag's use in the aftermath of the Charleston church shooting, which claimed the lives of nine African American churchgoers. The move was seen as a step forward in the ongoing struggle for racial justice and equality in North Carolina and the United States.