On this date in 1959, the Public Records Act of 1958 took effect. It transferred responsibility for public records and the Public Records Office (at that time the national archives of England, Wales and the United Kingdom) to the Lord Chancellor and placed the day-to-day management of the PRO in the hands of a Keeper of Public Records. For the first time a statutory, general public right of access was given after 50 years (with arrangements for exceptions) to public records transferred to the PRO or to a place of deposit elsewhere appointed by the Lord Chancellor. On January 1, 1968, the Public Records Act of 1967 took effect which reduced the fifty-year closure rule to thirty years. The 1967 Public Records Act's thirty year rule was replaced on 1 January 2005 by a statutory right to know under the new UK Freedom of Information Act. Persons can now make a request for information at any time and have that information supplied to them unless an exemption applies. To celebrate the full implementation of the Act, The UK National Archives released over 50,000 files that were less than 30 years old on the day the Act went in force.

On this day in 1997 the former National Archives of Canada (now the Library and Archives of Canada) moved its first boxes of documents into its new archives building in Gatineau.

On this date in 2006, the American Institute of Architects announced that the William J. Clinton Presidential Center had received its 2006 Honor Award for Architecture, the profession's highest recognition of works that exemplify excellence in architecture.

On this date in 2003, British Columbia's Provincial Archivist, Gary Mitchell, received the Commemorative Medal for the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, in recognition of his public service to his fellow citizens, community and province.

On this date in 1993, as midnight approached, United States Archivist Don W. Wilson signed an agreement giving President George H.W. Bush exclusive control over the computerized records of his presidency. According to the agreement, Bush could even order the U.S. Archivist to destroy computer tapes and hard drives, which were the kinds of materials that had proved critical to the Tower Commission's investigation of the Iran-contra affair during the second Reagan administration. This was a subversion of the Presidential Records Act (PRA) of 1981, which declared that the records of all presidents and vice presidents would be the property of the American people. Wilson was subsequently appointed director of the George Bush Center at Texas A&M University. In February 1995 a federal judge voided the agreement as a violation of the PRA.

On this date in 1981, the U.S. Presidential Records Act took effect. It declared that after this date the records of all US presidents and vice presidents would be the property of the American people. The law allowed citizens to review all materials, including confidential communications with advisers, 12 years after a president left office. The act also assured that the most sensitive records relating to national security, foreign relations, financial and trade secrets, and personal privacy were exempt from disclosure.