428 Nestorius becomes Patriarch of Constantinople.
837 Halley’s Comet and Earth experienced their closest approach to one another, 3.2 million miles.
1500 Ludovico Sforza is captured by the Swiss troops at Novara and is handed over to the French.
1583 Hugo Grotius (born), Dutch jurist and philosopher (died 1645)
1585 Pope Gregory XIII (died) (born 1502)
1599 Gabrielle d’Estrées (died), French mistress of Henry IV of France (born 1571)
1606 The Virginia Company of London is established by royal charter by James I of England with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America.
1651 Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus (born), German mathematician, physicist, and physician (died 1708)
1704 Benjamin Heath (born), English scholar and author (died 1766)
1710 The Statute of Anne, the first law regulating copyright, enters into force in Great Britain.
1713 John Whitehurst (born), English scientist and clockmaker (died 1788)
1755 Samuel Hahnemann (born), German physician (died 1843)
1760 Jean Lebeuf (died), French historian (born 1687)
1762 Giovanni Aldini (born), Italian physicist (died 1834)
1778 William Hazlitt (born), English critic and painter (died 1830)
1783 Hortense de Beauharnais (born), French-Dutch wife of Louis Bonaparte (died 1837)
1794 Matthew C. Perry (born), American navy officer (died 1858)
1813 Joseph Louis Lagrange (died), Italian mathematician and astronomer (born 1736)
1815 The Mount Tambora volcano begins a three-month-long eruption, lasting until July 15. The eruption ultimately kills 71,000 people and affects Earth’s climate for the next two years.
1816 The Federal government of the United States approves the creation of the Second Bank of the United States.
1821 Patriarch Gregory V (born 1746) of Constantinople is hanged by the Ottoman government from the main gate of the Patriarchate and his body is thrown into the Bosphorus.
1823 Karl Leonhard Reinhold (died), Austrian philosopher (born 1757)
1829 William Booth (born), English minister, founded The Salvation Army (died 1912)
1847 Joseph Pulitzer (born), Hungarian-American politician, journalist, and publisher, founded Pulitzer, Inc. (died 1911)
1858 After the original Big Ben, a 14.5 ton bell for the Palace of Westminster had cracked during testing, it is recast into the current 13.76 ton bell by Whitechapel Bell Foundry.
1865 American Civil War: A day after his surrender to Union forces, Confederate General Robert E. Lee addresses his troops for the last time.
1866 The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is founded in New York City by Henry Bergh.
1874 The first Arbor Day is celebrated in Nebraska.
1882 Dante Gabriel Rossetti (died), English poet and painter (born 1828)
1887 On Easter Sunday, Pope Leo XIII authorizes the establishment of The Catholic University of America.
1903 Clare Boothe Luce (born), American politician and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Italy (died 1987)
1904 British mystic Aleister Crowley transcribes the third and final chapter of The Book of the Law.
1904 Isabella II of Spain (died) (born 1830)
1909 Algernon Charles Swinburne (died), English author, poet, playwright, and critic (born 1837)
1910 Paul Sweezy (born), American economist and publisher, founded the Monthly Review (died 2004)
1911 Martin Denny (born), American pianist and composer (died 2005)
1912 The Titanic leaves port in Southampton, England for her first and only voyage.
1915 Harry Morgan (born), American actor and director (died 2011)
1916 The Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) is created in New York City.
1917 Robert Burns Woodward (born), American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1979)
1919 Emiliano Zapata (died), Mexican general (born 1879)
1919 Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata is ambushed and killed by government forces in Morelos.
1921 Chuck Connors (born), American baseball player and actor (died 1992)
1921 Sheb Wooley (born), American actor and singer (died 2003)
1925 The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is published in New York City, by Charles Scribner’s Sons.
1926 Junior Samples (born), American actor (died 1983)
1929 Max von Sydow (born), Swedish-French actor
1929 Mike Hawthorn (born), English race car driver (died 1959)
1930 Dolores Huerta (born), American activist, co-founded the United Farm Workers
1931 Kahlil Gibran (died), Lebanese-American poet and painter (born 1883)
1932 Omar Sharif (born), Egyptian actor
1934 David Halberstam (born), American journalist and author (died 2007)
1936 Bobbie Smith (born), American singer (The Spinners) (died 2013)
1936 John Madden (born), American football player, coach, and sportscaster
1938 Joe “King” Oliver (died), American cornet player and bandleader (born 1885)
1941 Paul Theroux (born), American scholar and author
1945 Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman (died), Dutch printer (born 1882)
1947 Bunny Wailer (born), Jamaican singer-songwriter and drummer (Bob Marley and the Wailers)
1953 Warner Bros. premieres the first 3-D film from a major American studio, entitled House of Wax.
1955 Lesley Garrett (born), English soprano
1955 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (died), French priest and philosopher (born 1881)
1957 The Suez Canal is reopened for all shipping after being closed for three months.
1958 Chuck Willis (died), American singer-songwriter (born 1928)
1959 Akihito, future Emperor of Japan, marries Michiko.
1962 Stuart Sutcliffe (died), Scottish bass player (The Beatles) (born 1940)
1969 Harley Earl (died), American businessman (born 1893)
1970 Paul McCartney announces that he is leaving The Beatles for personal and professional reasons.
1971 Ping-pong diplomacy: In an attempt to thaw relations with the United States, the People’s Republic of China hosts the U.S. table tennis team for a week-long visit.
1972 Seventy-four nations sign the Biological Weapons Convention, the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning the production of biological weapons.
1972 Tombs containing bamboo slips, among them Sun Tzu’s Art of War and Sun Bin’s lost military treatise, are accidentally discovered by construction workers in Shandong.
1972 Vietnam War: For the first time since November 1967, American B-52 bombers reportedly begin bombing North Vietnam.
1991 A rare tropical storm develops in the South Atlantic Ocean near Angola; the first to be documented by satellites.
1998 Northern Ireland peace deal reached (Good Friday Agreement).
2000 Larry Linville (died), American actor (born 1939)
2003 Little Eva (died) American singer (born 1943)
2013 Olive Lewin (died), Jamaican anthropologist and author (born 1927)
2013 Raymond Boudon (died), French academic (born 1934)
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
- Patriotism - 4 July, 2017
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- Alternative Facts and Science - 24 January, 2017