1035 William the Conqueror becomes the Duke of Normandy, reigns until 1087.
1423 Louis XI of France (born) (died 1483)
1530 Claude Fauchet (born), French historian (died 1601)
1608 Québec City is founded by Samuel de Champlain.
1642 Marie de’ Medici (died), Italian-French wife of Henri IV of France (born 1575)
1672 Francis Willughby (died), English ornithologist and ichthyologist (born 1635)
1728 Robert Adam (born), Scottish architect, designed Culzean Castle (died 1792)
1754 French and Indian War: George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to French forces.
1767 Norway’s oldest newspaper still in print, Adresseavisen, is founded and the first edition is published.
1767 Pitcairn Island is discovered by Midshipman Robert Pitcairn on an expeditionary voyage commanded by Philip Carteret.
1775 American Revolutionary War: George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1778 American Revolutionary War: British forces kill 360 people in the Wyoming Valley massacre.
1778 Anna Maria Mozart (died), Austrian mother of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (born 1720)
1789 Johann Friedrich Overbeck (born), German painter (died 1869)
1819 The Bank of Savings in New York City, the first savings bank in the United States, opens.
1839 The first state normal school in the United States, the forerunner to today’s Framingham State College, opens in Lexington, Massachusetts with 3 students.
1844 The last pair of Great Auks is killed.
1848 Slaves are freed in the Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands) by Peter von Scholten in the culmination of a year-long plot by enslaved Africans.
1849 The French enter Rome in order to restore Pope Pius IX to power. This would prove a major obstacle to Italian unification.
1852 Congress establishes the United States’ 2nd mint in San Francisco.
1860 Charlotte Perkins Gilman (born), American sociologist and author (died 1935)
1863 American Civil War: The final day of the Battle of Gettysburg culminates with Pickett’s Charge.
1863 Little Crow (died), American tribal leader (born 1810)
1883 Franz Kafka (born), Czech-German author (died 1924)
1884 Dow Jones and Company publishes its first stock average.
1886 Karl Benz officially unveils the Benz Patent Motorwagen – the first purpose-built automobile.
1886 The New York Tribune becomes the first newspaper to use a linotype machine, eliminating typesetting by hand.
1890 Idaho is admitted as the 43rd U.S. state.
1893 Mississippi John Hurt (born), American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1966)
1908 Joel Chandler Harris (died), American journalist and author (born 1845)
1910 Fritz Kasparek (born), Austrian mountaineer (died 1954)
1918 Mehmed V, Ottoman sultan (died) (born 1844)
1930 Carlos Kleiber (born), German-Austrian conductor (died 2004)
1930 Pete Fountain (born), American clarinet player
1930 Tommy Tedesco (born), American guitarist (died 1997)
1935 André Citroën (died), French engineer and businessman, founded the Citroën Company (born 1878)
1937 Jacob Schick (died), American-Canadian captain and businessman, invented the electric razor (born 1877)
1938 United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates the Eternal Light Peace Memorial and lights the eternal flame at Gettysburg Battlefield.
1938 World speed record for a steam railway locomotive is set in England, by the Mallard, which reaches a speed of 126 miles per hour (203 km/h).
1940 World War II: In order to stop the ships from falling into German hands the French fleet of the Atlantic based at Mers El Kébir, is bombarded by the British fleet, coming from Gibraltar, causing the loss of three battleships: Dunkerque, Provence and Bretagne. One thousand two hundred sailors perish.
1943 Judith Durham (born), Australian singer-songwriter (The Seekers)
1947 Dave Barry (born), American journalist and author
1951 Jean-Claude Duvalier (born), Haitian politician, 41st President of Haiti
1952 Andy Fraser (born), English singer-songwriter and bass player (Free, Sharks, and John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers)
1952 The Constitution of Puerto Rico is approved by the Congress of the United States.
1952 The SS United States sets sail on her maiden voyage to Southampton. During the voyage, the ship takes the Blue Riband away from the RMS Queen Mary.
1962 The Algerian War of Independence against the French ends.
1962 Tom Cruise (born), American actor and producer
1965 Trigger (died), American horse (born 1932)
1969 Brian Jones (died), English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (The Rolling Stones) (born 1942)
1969 Kevin Hearn (born), Canadian singer and keyboard player (Barenaked Ladies, Rheostatics, and Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle)
1969 The biggest explosion in the history of rocketry occurs when the Soviet N-1 rocket explodes and subsequently destroys its launchpad.
1971 Jim Morrison (died), American singer-songwriter (The Doors and Rick & the Ravens) (born 1943)
1979 U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul.
1986 Rudy Vallée (died), American singer, saxophonist, and actor (born 1901)
1987 Sebastian Vettel (born), German race car driver
1988 The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, providing the second connection between the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosphorus.
1988 United States Navy warship USS Vincennes shoots down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.
1989 Jim Backus (died), American actor (born 1913)
1995 Pancho Gonzales (died), American tennis player (born 1928)
1996 Stone of Scone is returned to Scotland.
2005 Same-sex marriage in Spain becomes legal.
2007 Boots Randolph (died), American saxophonist (born 1927)
2012 Andy Griffith (died), American actor, singer, and producer (born 1926)
2013 –Egyptian coup d’état: President of Egypt Mohamed Morsi is overthrown by the military after 4 days of protests all over the country calling for Morsi’s resignation, to which he didn’t respond. President of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt Adly Mansour is declared acting president.
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
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