388 Magnus Maximus (died), Roman emperor (born 335)
430 Augustine of Hippo (died), Algerian theologian and saint (born 354)
1565 Pedro Menéndez de Avilés sights land near St. Augustine, Florida and founds the oldest continuously occupied European-established city in the continental United States.
1609 Henry Hudson discovers Delaware Bay.
1619 Ferdinand II is elected emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
1645 Hugo Grotius (died), Dutch philosopher (born 1583)
1749 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German author, poet, playwright, and diplomat (died 1832)
1784 Junípero Serra (died), Spanish-American missionary (born 1713)
1789 William Herschel discovers a new moon of Saturn: Enceladus.
1810 Battle of Grand Port – the French accept the surrender of a British Navy fleet.
1820 Andrew Ellicott (died), American surveyor (born 1754)
1830 The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s new Tom Thumb steam locomotive races a horse-drawn car, presaging steam’s role in US railroading.
1833 The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 receives Royal Assent, abolishing slavery through most the British Empire.
1839 William Smith (died), English geologist (born 1769)
1840 Alexander Cameron Sim (born), Scottish pharmacist and businessman, founded Kobe Regatta & Athletic Club (died 1900)
1845 The first issue of Scientific American is published.
1849 After a month-long siege, Venice, which had declared itself independent as the Republic of San Marco, surrenders to Austria.
1853 Vladimir Shukhov (born), Russian architect and engineer, designed the Adziogol Lighthouse (died 1939)
1859 A geomagnetic storm causes the Aurora Borealis to shine so brightly that it is seen clearly over parts of USA, Europe, and even as far away as Japan.
1859 Vittorio Sella (born), Italian mountaineer and photographer (died 1943)
1862 American Civil War: Second Battle of Bull Run, also known as the Battle of Second Manassas.
1867 The United States takes possession of the (at this point unoccupied) Midway Atoll.
1878 George Whipple (born), American physician and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1976)
1898 Caleb Bradham invents the carbonated soft drink that will later be called “Pepsi-Cola”.
1903 Bruno Bettelheim (born), Austrian-American psychologist and author (died 1990)
1903 Frederick Law Olmsted (died), American journalist and architect, co-designed Central Park (born 1822)
1908 Roger Tory Peterson (born), American ornithologist and author (died 1996)
1910 Tjalling Koopmans (born), Dutch-American mathematician and economist Nobel Prize laureate (died 1985)
1913 Jack Dreyfus (born), American businessman, founded the Dreyfus Corporation (died 2009)
1913 Queen Wilhelmina opens the Peace Palace in The Hague.
1915 Tasha Tudor (born), American author and illustrator (died 2008)
1916 C. Wright Mills (born), American sociologist and author (died 1962)
1916 Jack Vance (born), American author (died 2013)
1916 World War I: Italy declares war on Germany.
1917 Ten Suffragettes are arrested while picketing the White House.
1925 Donald O’Connor (born), American actor, singer, and dancer (died 2003)
1930 Ben Gazzara (born), American actor, singer, and director (died 2012)
1937 Toyota Motors becomes an independent company.
1942 Sterling Morrison (born), American singer and guitarist (The Velvet Underground) (died 1995)
1943 David Soul (born), American actor and singer
1944 World War II: Marseille and Toulon are liberated.
1948 Danny Seraphine (born), American drummer and producer (Chicago)
1951 Wayne Osmond (born), American singer-songwriter and actor (The Osmonds)
1953 Nippon Television broadcasts Japan’s first television show, including its first TV advertisement.
1955 Black teenager Emmett Till is brutally murdered in Mississippi, galvanizing the nascent American Civil Rights Movement.
1955 Emmett Till (died), American murder victim (born 1941)
1957 Daniel Stern (born), American actor and director
1957 U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond begins a filibuster to prevent the Senate from voting on Civil Rights Act of 1957; he stopped speaking 24 hours and 18 minutes later, the longest filibuster ever conducted by a single Senator.
1958 Scott Hamilton (born), American figure skater
1963 Emily Hoffert and Janice Wylie are murdered in their Manhattan apartment, prompting the events that would lead to the passing of the Miranda Rights.
1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom: the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. gives his I Have a Dream speech
1964 The Philadelphia race riot begins.
1968 Riots in Chicago, Illinois, during the Democratic National Convention.
1969 Jack Black (born), American actor, singer, guitarist, and producer (Tenacious D)
1969 Jason Priestley (born), Canadian-American actor, director, and producer
1969 Mary McCartney (born), English photographer
1978 Bruce Catton (died), American historian and journalist (born 1899)
1978 Robert Shaw (died), English actor, screenwriter, and author (born 1927)
1982 LeAnn Rimes (born), American singer-songwriter and actress
1987 John Huston (died), American actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1906)
1988 Max Shulman (died), American author and screenwriter (born 1919)
1988 Ramstein airshow disaster: three aircraft of the Frecce Tricolori demonstration team collide and the wreckage falls into the crowd. 75 are killed and 346 seriously injured.
1989 John Steptoe (died), American author and illustrator (born 1950)
1989 Valtteri Bottas (born), Finnish race car driver
1990 Iraq declares Kuwait to be its newest province.
1991 Collapse of the Soviet Union – Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party.
1996 Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales divorce.
1998 Second Congo War: Loyalist troops backed by Angolan and Zimbabwean forces repulse the RCD and Rwandan offensive on Kinshasa.
2003 An electricity blackout cuts off power to around 500,000 people living in south east England and brings 60% of London’s underground rail network to a halt.
2008 Phil Hill (died), American race car driver (born 1927)
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
- Patriotism - 4 July, 2017
- The Super Sucker Bowl - 10 February, 2017
- Alternative Facts and Science - 24 January, 2017