552 Totila (died), Ostrogoth king
1277 Baibars (died), Egyptian sultan (born 1223)
1523 Johann Esch and Heinrich Voes become the first Lutheran martyrs, burned at the stake by Roman Catholic authorities in Brussels.
1586 Claudio Saracini (born), Italian lute player and composer (died 1630)
1614 Isaac Casaubon (died), French philologist and scholar (born 1559)
1633 Johann Heinrich Heidegger (born), Swiss theologian (died 1698)
1646 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (born), German mathematician and philosopher (died 1716)
1766 Jean-François Lefebvre de la Barre was a young French nobleman, famous for having been tortured and beheaded before his body was burnt on a pyre along with a copy of Voltaire’s “Philosophical Dictionary” nailed to his torso for the crime of not saluting a Roman Catholic religious procession in Abbeville, France.
1770 Lexell’s Comet passed closer to the Earth than any other comet in recorded history, approaching to a distance of 0.0146 a.u.
1807 Thomas Green Clemson (born), American politician and educator, founded Clemson University (died 1888)
1837 A system of the civil registration of births, marriages and deaths is established in England and Wales.
1858 Joint reading of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace’s papers on evolution to the Linnean Society.
1860 Charles Goodyear (died), American engineer (born 1800)
1862 American Civil War: the Battle of Malvern Hill takes place. It is the final battle in the Seven Days Campaign, part of George B. McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign.
1862 The Russian State Library is founded.
1863 American Civil War: the Battle of Gettysburg begins.
1863 Keti Koti (Emancipation Day) in Suriname, marking the abolition of slavery by the Netherlands.
1863 William Grant Stairs (born), Canadian-English captain and explorer (died 1892)
1869 William Strunk, Jr. (born), American author and educator (died 1946)
1870 The United States Department of Justice formally comes into existence.
1873 Alice Guy-Blaché (born), American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1968)
1873 Prince Edward Island joins the Canadian Confederation.
1874 The Sholes and Glidden typewriter, the first commercially successful typewriter, goes on sale.
1879 Charles Taze Russell publishes the first edition of the religious magazine The Watchtower.
1881 The world’s first international telephone call is made between St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada, and Calais, Maine, United States.
1884 Allan Pinkerton (died), Scottish-American detective (born 1819)
1890 Canada and Bermuda are linked by telegraph cable.
1896 Harriet Beecher Stowe (died), American author and activist (born 1811)
1898 Spanish–American War: the Battle of San Juan Hill is fought in Santiago de Cuba.
1899 Charles Laughton (born), English-American actor and director (died 1962)
1899 Thomas A. Dorsey (born), American pianist and composer (died 1993)
1902 William Wyler (born), French-American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1981)
1903 Start of first Tour de France bicycle race.
1906 Estée Lauder (born), American businesswoman, co-founded the Estée Lauder Companies (died 2004)
1908 SOS is adopted as the international distress signal.
1912 David Brower (born), American environmentalist, founded Sierra Club Foundation (died 2000)
1915 Leutnant Kurt Wintgens of the then-named German Fliegertruppe air service achieves the first known aerial victory with a synchronized machine-gun armed fighter plane, the Fokker M.5K/MG Eindecker.
1915 Willie Dixon (born), American singer-songwriter, musician, and producer (died 1992)
1916 Olivia de Havilland (born), Japanese-American actress
1916 World War I: First day on the Somme On the first day of the Battle of the Somme 19,000 soldiers of the British Army are killed and 40,000 wounded.
1921 The Communist Party of China is founded.
1922 The Great Railroad Strike of 1922 begins in the United States.
1925 Farley Granger (born), American actor (died 2011)
1929 Gerald Edelman (born), American biologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2014)
1930 Carol Chomsky (born), American linguist (died 2008)
1931 Leslie Caron (born), French actress and dancer
1931 United Airlines begins service (as Boeing Air Transport).
1933 C. Scott Littleton (born), American anthropologist and academic (died 2010)
1934 Jamie Farr (born), American actor and screenwriter
1934 Sydney Pollack (born), American actor, director, and producer (died 2008)
1935 James Cotton (born), American singer-songwriter and harmonica player
1935 Regina, Saskatchewan police and Royal Canadian Mounted Police ambush strikers participating in On-to-Ottawa Trek.
1939 Delaney Bramlett (born), American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Delaney & Bonnie) (died 2008)
1941 Twyla Tharp (born), American dancer and choreographer
1942 World War II: first Battle of El Alamein.
1943 Tokyo City merges with Tokyo Prefecture and is dissolved. Since then, no city in Japan has had the name “Tokyo” (present-day Tokyo is not officially a city).
1946 Mick Aston (born), English archaeologist and academic (died 2013)
1949 John Farnham (born), English-Australian singer-songwriter (Little River Band)
1950 David Duke (born), American politician and activist
1951 Fred Schneider (born), American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (The B-52’s and The Superions)
1951 Victor Willis (born), American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (Village People)
1952 Dan Aykroyd (born), Canadian actor, screenwriter, and producer
1958 Flooding of Canada’s St. Lawrence Seaway begins.
1958 The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation links television broadcasting across Canada via microwave.
1959 Specific values for the international yard, avoirdupois pound and derived units (e.g. inch, mile and ounce) are adopted after agreement between the U.S.A., the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries.
1960 Ghana becomes a Republic and Kwame Nkrumah becomes its first President as Queen Elizabeth II ceases to be its Head of state.
1960 Independence of Somalia.
1961 Carl Lewis (born), American long jumper and runner
1961 Diana (born), Princess of Wales (died 1997)
1962 Andre Braugher (born), American actor
1962 Independence of Burundi.
1962 Independence of Rwanda.
1963 The British Government admits that former diplomat Kim Philby had worked as a Soviet agent.
1963 ZIP codes are introduced for United States mail.
1965 Robert Ruark (died), American author (born 1915)
1966 The first color television transmission in Canada takes place from Toronto.
1967 Canada celebrates the 100th anniversary of the British North America Act, 1867, which officially made Canada its own federal dominion.
1967 Pamela Anderson (born), Canadian-American model, actress, and producer
1967 The European Community is formally created out of a merger with the Common Market, the European Coal and Steel Community, and the European Atomic Energy Commission.
1968 Formal separation of the United Auto Workers from the AFL–CIO.
1968 The CIA’s Phoenix Program is officially established.
1968 The Nuclear non-proliferation treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., London and Moscow by sixty-two countries.
1972 The first Gay Pride march in England takes place.
1974 Juan Perón (died), Argentinian general and politician, President of Argentina (born 1895)
1979 Sony introduces the Walkman.
1980 “O Canada” officially becomes the national anthem of Canada.
1981 Rushton Moreve (died), American bass player and songwriter (Steppenwolf) (born 1948)
1981 The Wonderland murders occurred in the early morning hours, allegedly masterminded by businessman and drug dealer Eddie Nash.
1983 Buckminster Fuller (died), American architect, designed the Montreal Biosphère (born 1895)
1984 The PG-13 rating is introduced by the MPAA.
1987 Snakefinger (died), English singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Residents and Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers) (born 1949)
1987 The American radio station WFAN in New York, New York is launched as the world’s first all-sports radio station.
1989 Daniel Ricciardo (born), Australian race car driver
1990 German reunification: East Germany accepts the Deutsche Mark as its currency, thus uniting the economies of East and West Germany.
1991 Michael Landon (died), American actor, director, and producer (born 1936)
1995 Wolfman Jack (died), American radio host (born 1938)
1996 Margaux Hemingway (died), American actress and model (born 1954)
1997 Charles Werner (died), American cartoonist (born 1909)
1997 China resumes sovereignty over the city-state of Hong Kong, ending 156 years of British colonial rule.
1997 Robert Mitchum (died), American actor and singer (born 1917)
1999 Forrest Mars, Sr. (died), American businessman, created M&M’s and the Mars bar (born 1904)
2000 Walter Matthau (died), American actor and singer (born 1920)
2002 The International Criminal Court is established to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.
2003 Herbie Mann (died), American flute player (born 1930)
2003 Over 500,000 people protested against efforts to pass anti-sedition legislation in Hong Kong.
2004 Marlon Brando (died), American actor (born 1924)
2005 Luther Vandross (died), American singer-songwriter and producer (Change) (born 1951)
2005 Renaldo Benson (died), American singer-songwriter (Four Tops) (born 1936)
2007 Smoking in England is banned in all public indoor spaces.
2008 Mel Galley (died), English guitarist (Whitesnake, Trapeze, Finders Keepers, and Phenomena) (born 1948)
2009 Karl Malden (died), American actor (born 1912)
2013 Charles Foley (died), American game designer, co-created Twister (born 1930)
2013 Neptune’s moon S/2004 N 1 is discovered.
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
- Patriotism - 4 July, 2017
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- Alternative Facts and Science - 24 January, 2017