109 Roman emperor Trajan inaugurates the Aqua Traiana, an aqueduct that channels water from Lake Bracciano, 40 kilometers (25 miles) north-west of Rome.
1314 First War of Scottish Independence: the Battle of Bannockburn concludes with a decisive victory by Scottish forces led by Robert the Bruce, though England did not recognize Scottish independence until 1328 with the signing of the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton.
1340 Hundred Years’ War: Battle of Sluys – The French fleet is almost completely destroyed by the English Fleet commanded in person by King Edward III.
1343 Joan of Valois (born), Queen of Navarre (died 1373)
1374 A sudden outbreak of St. John’s Dance causes people in the streets of Aachen, Germany, to experience hallucinations and begin to jump and twitch uncontrollably until they collapse from exhaustion.
1386 John of Capistrano (born), Italian priest and saint (died 1456)
1497 John Cabot lands in North America at Newfoundland leading the first European exploration of the region since the Vikings.
1509 Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon are crowned King and Queen of England.
1519 Lucrezia Borgia (died), Italian wife of Alfonso I d’Este, Duke of Ferrara (born 1480)
1535 The Anabaptist state of Münster is conquered and disbanded.
1542 John of the Cross (born), Spanish mystic and saint (died 1591)
1571 Miguel Lopez de Legazpi founds Manila, the capital of the Republic of the Philippines.
1587 William Arnold (born), English-American settler (died 1675)
1597 The first Dutch voyage to the East Indies reaches Bantam (on Java).
1604 Samuel de Champlain discovers the mouth of the Saint John River, site of Reversing Falls and the present day city of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.
1622 Battle of Macau: The Dutch attempt but fail to capture Macau.
1717 The Premier Grand Lodge of England, the first Masonic Grand Lodge in the world (now the United Grand Lodge of England), is founded in London, England.
1767 Jean-Baptiste Benoît Eyriès (born), French geographer and author (died 1846)
1813 Henry Ward Beecher (born), American clergyman and reformer (died 1887)
1842 Ambrose Bierce (born), American author (died 1914)
1846 The saxophone is patented by Adolphe Sax in Paris, France.
1860 Mercedes of Orléans (born) (died 1878)
1865 Robert Henri (born), American painter (died 1929)
1880 First performance of O Canada, the song that would become the national anthem of Canada, at the Congrès national des Canadiens-Français.
1893 Roy O. Disney (born), American businessman, co-founded The Walt Disney Company (died 1971)
1895 Jack Dempsey (born), American boxer (died 1983)
1897 Daniel K. Ludwig (born), American businessman (died 1992)
1902 King Edward VII of the United Kingdom develops appendicitis, delaying his coronation.
1908 Grover Cleveland (died), American politician, 22nd President of the United States (born 1837)
1911 Juan Manuel Fangio (born), Argentinian race car driver (died 1995)
1912 Mary Wesley (born), English author (died 2002)
1916 Mary Pickford becomes the first female film star to sign a million dollar contract.
1918 First airmail service in Canada from Montreal to Toronto.
1927 Fernand Dumont (born), Canadian sociologist, philosopher, and poet (died 1997)
1931 Billy Casper (born), American golfer
1931 Otto Mears (died), Russian-American businessman (born 1840)
1938 Pieces of a meteor, estimated to have weighed 450 metric tons when it hit the Earth’s atmosphere and exploded, land near Chicora, Pennsylvania.
1939 Siam is renamed Thailand by Plaek Pibulsonggram, the country’s third prime minister.
1942 Arthur Brown (born), English singer (Kingdom Come and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown)
1942 Michele Lee (born), American actress, singer, and dancer
1944 Chris Wood (born), English saxophonist (Traffic and Ginger Baker’s Air Force) (died 1983)
1944 Jeff Beck (born), English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (The Yardbirds, The Jeff Beck Group, The Honeydrippers, and Beck, Bogert & Appice)
1944 John “Charlie” Whitney (born), English guitarist (Family, Axis Point, and Streetwalkers)
1945 Colin Blunstone (born), English singer-songwriter (The Zombies and Keats)
1945 George Pataki (born), American politician, 53rd Governor of New York
1946 Louise Whitfield Carnegie (died), American philanthropist (born 1857)
1946 Robert Reich (born), American economist and politician, 22nd United States Secretary of Labor
1947 Kenneth Arnold makes the first widely reported UFO sighting near Mount Rainier, Washington.
1947 Mick Fleetwood (born), English-American drummer and actor (Fleetwood Mac and John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers)
1948 Patrick Moraz (born), Swiss keyboard player and songwriter (Yes, The Moody Blues, and Refugee)
1948 Start of the Berlin Blockade: the Soviet Union makes overland travel between West Germany and West Berlin impossible.
1949 John Illsley (born), English singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (Dire Straits)
1949 The first television western, Hopalong Cassidy, is aired on NBC starring William Boyd.
1956 Joe Penny (born), English actor
1957 In Roth v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment.
1959 Andy McCluskey (born), English singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (The Id, Dalek I Love You, and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark)
1961 Curt Smith (born), English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Tears for Fears and Graduate)
1961 Ralph E. Reed, Jr. (born), American activist
1967 Sherry Stringfield (born), American actress
1978 Robert Charroux (died), French author (born 1909)
1980 Minka Kelly (born), American actress
1982 “The Jakarta Incident”: British Airways Flight 9 flies into a cloud of volcanic ash thrown up by the eruption of Mount Galunggung, resulting in the failure of all four engines.
1987 Jackie Gleason (died), American actor and singer (born 1916)
1997 Brian Keith (died), American actor (born 1921)
2004 In New York, capital punishment is declared unconstitutional.
2005 Paul Winchell (died), American voice actor and ventriloquist (born 1922)
2008 Ira Tucker (died), American singer (The Dixie Hummingbirds) (born 1925)
2010 John Isner of the United States defeats Nicolas Mahut of France at Wimbledon, in the longest match in professional tennis history.
2012 The last known individual of Chelonoidis nigra abingdonii, a subspecies of the Galápagos tortoise, dies.
2013 Alan Myers (died), American drummer (Devo) (born 1955)
2013 Mick Aston (died), English archaeologist and academic (born 1946)
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
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