485 Proclus (died), Greek philosopher (born 412)
1397 Geoffrey Chaucer tells the Canterbury Tales for the first time at the court of Richard II.
1492 Spain and Christopher Columbus sign the Capitulations of Santa Fe for his voyage to Asia to acquire spices.
1521 Trial of Martin Luther over his teachings begins during the assembly of the Diet of Worms. Initially intimidated, he asks for time to reflect before answering and is given a stay of one day.
1524 Giovanni da Verrazzano reaches New York harbor.
1539 George, Duke of Saxony (died) (born 1471)
1555 After 18 months of siege, Siena surrenders to the Florentine-Imperial army. The Republic of Siena is incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.
1574 Joachim Camerarius (died), German scholar (born 1500)
1586 John Ford (born), English poet and playwright (died 1639)
1598 Giovanni Battista Riccioli (born). Italian priest and astronomer (died 1671)
1622 Henry Vaughan (born),, Welsh physician, author, and poet (died 1695)
1669 Antonio Bertali (died), Italian violinist and composer (born 1605)
1683 Johann David Heinichen (born),, German composer and theorist (died 1729)
1695 Juana Inés de la Cruz (died), Mexican poet and scholar (born 1651)
1750 François de Neufchâteau (born),, French politician (died 1828)
1764 Johann Mattheson (died), German lexicographer and composer (born 1681)
1790 Benjamin Franklin (died), American inventor, publisher, and politician, 6th President of Pennsylvania (born 1706)
1794 Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius (born),, German botanist (died 1868)
1797 Sir Ralph Abercromby attacks San Juan, Puerto Rico, in what would be one of the largest invasions of the Spanish territories in America.
1798 Étienne Bobillier (born),, French mathematician (died 1840)
1814 Josif Pančić (born),, Serbian botanist (died 1888)
1820 Alexander Cartwright (born),, American inventor of Baseball (died 1892)
1837 J. P. Morgan (born),, American banker and financier, founded J.P. Morgan & Co. (died 1913)
1863 American Civil War: Grierson’s Raid begins – troops under Union Army Colonel Benjamin Grierson attack central Mississippi.
1863 Augustus Edward Hough Love (born),, English mathematician (died 1940)
1864 American Civil War: The Battle of Plymouth begins – Confederate forces attack Plymouth, North Carolina.
1866 Ernest Starling (born), English physiologist (died 1927)
1878 Emil Fuchs (born), German-American businessman (died 1961)
1882 Artur Schnabel (born), Polish pianist and composer (died 1951)
1882 George Jennings (died), English engineer and plumber, invented the Flush toilet (born 1810)
1884 Leo Frank (born), American businessman (died 1915)
1885 Karen Blixen (born), Danish author (died 1962)
1888 E. G. Squier (died), American archaeologist and journalist (born 1821)
1896 Señor Wences (born),, Spanish-American ventriloquist (died 1999)
1897 Edouard Wyss-Dunant (born),, Swiss physician and mountaineer (died 1983)
1897 The Aurora, Texas UFO incident
1897 Thornton Wilder (born), American author and playwright (died 1975)
1903 Nicolas Nabokov (born), Russian-American composer (died 1978)
1905 The Supreme Court of the United States decides Lochner v. New York which holds that the “right to free contract” is implicit in the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
1907 The Ellis Island immigration center processes 11,747 people, more than on any other day.
1918 William Holden (born), American actor (died 1981)
1923 Harry Reasoner (born), American journalist (died 1991)
1934 Don Kirshner (born), American songwriter and producer (died 2011)
1937 Ferdinand Piëch (born), Austrian-German engineer and businessman
1945 Brazilian forces liberate the town of Montese, Italy, from German Nazi forces.
1946 Syria obtains its Independence from the French occupation.
1949 At midnight 26 Irish counties officially leave the British Commonwealth. A 21-gun salute on O’Connell Bridge, Dublin, ushers in the Republic of Irelandied
1951 The Peak District becomes the United Kingdom’s first National Park.
1959 Sean Bean (born),, English actor
1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion: A group of Cuban exiles financed and trained by the CIA lands at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro.
1964 Ford Mustang is introduced to the North American market.
1964 Jerrie Mock becomes the first woman to circumnavigate the world by air.
1969 Czechoslovakian Communist Party chairman Alexander Dubček is deposedied
1969 Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Robert F. Kennedy.
1970 Apollo program: The ill-fated Apollo 13 spacecraft returns to Earth safely.
1971 The People’s Republic of Bangladesh forms, under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Mujibnagor.
1972 Jennifer Garner (born),, American actress and producer
1972 Ruffian (born),, American race horse (died 1975)
1973 George Lucas begins writing the treatment for The Star Wars.
1974 Victoria Beckham (born),, English singer and actress (Spice Girls)
1975 The Cambodian Civil War ends. The Khmer Rouge captures the capital Phnom Penh and Cambodian government forces surrender.
1983 Felix Pappalardi (died), American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (Mountain) (born 1939)
1986 Romain Grosjean (born), French race car driver
1994 Roger Wolcott Sperry (died), American neurobiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1913)
2003 John Paul Getty, Jr. (died), American-English philanthropist (born 1932)
2003 Robert Atkins (died), American physician and cardiologist, created the Atkins diet (born 1930)
2006 Jean Bernard (died) French physician and haematologist (born 1907)
2007 Kitty Carlisle (died), American actress and singer (born 1910)
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
- Patriotism - 4 July, 2017
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- Alternative Facts and Science - 24 January, 2017