1158 Vladislav II becomes King of Bohemia.
1569 First recorded lottery in England.
1571 Austrian nobility is granted freedom of religion.
1693 Mount Etna erupts in Sicily, Italy. A powerful earthquake destroys parts of Sicily and Malta.
1755 Alexander Hamilton (born), Nevisian-American economist, politician, and philosopher, 1st United States Secretary of the Treasury (died 1804)
1757 Samuel Bentham (born), English engineer (died 1831)
1759 In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the first American life insurance company is incorporated.
1786 Joseph Jackson Lister (born), English opticist and physicist (died 1869)
1787 William Herschel discovers Titania and Oberon, two moons of Uranus.
1794 Robert Forsythe, a U.S. Marshal is killed in Augusta, Georgia when trying to serve court papers, the first US marshal to die while carrying out his duties.
1805 The Michigan Territory is created.
1807 Ezra Cornell (born), American businessman and philanthropist, founded Western Union and Cornell University (died 1874)
1836 John Molson (died), Canadian businessman, founded the Molson Brewing Company (born 1763)
1842 William James (born), American psychologist and philosopher (died 1910)
1843 Francis Scott Key (died), American lawyer, author, and songwriter (born 1779)
1861 Alabama secedes from the United States.
1863 American Civil War: CSS Alabama encounters and sinks the USS Hatteras off Galveston Lighthouse in Texas.
1867 Edward B. Titchener (born), English psychologist (died 1927)
1879 The Anglo-Zulu War begins.
1887 Aldo Leopold (born), American ecologist and author (died 1948)
1905 Clyde Kluckhohn (born), American anthropologist (died 1960)
1908 Grand Canyon National Monument is created.
1912 Immigrant textile works in Lawrence, Massachusetts, go on strike when wages are reduced in response to a mandated shortening of the work week.
1917 The Kingsland munitions factory explosion occurs as a result of sabotage.
1919 Romania reincorporates Transylvania.
1922 First use of insulin to treat diabetes in a human patient.
1923 Carroll Shelby (born), American race car driver, designer, and businessman, founded Carroll Shelby International (died 2012)
1924 Slim Harpo (born), American singer and harmonica player (died 1970)
1925 Grant Tinker (born), American television producer, co-founded MTM Enterprises
1927 Louis B. Mayer, head of film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), announces the creation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, at a banquet in Los Angeles, California.
1928 David L. Wolper (born), American television and film producer (died 2010)
1928 Thomas Hardy (died), English author and poet (born 1840)
1931 James Milton Carroll (died), American pastor, historian, and author (born 1852)
1935 Amelia Earhart becomes the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California.
1942 World War II: The Japanese capture Kuala Lumpur.
1942 Clarence Clemons (born), American saxophonist and actor (E Street Band) (died 2011)
1943 World War II: The United States and United Kingdom give up territorial rights in China.
1943 Italian-American anarchist Carlo Tresca is assassinated in New York.
1946 Naomi Judd (born), American singer-songwriter (The Judds)
1949 The first “networked” television broadcasts take place as KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania goes on the air connecting the east coast and mid-west programming.
1949 First recorded case of snowfall in Los Angeles, California.
1960 Henry Lee Lucas, once listed as America’s most prolific serial killer, commits his first known murder.
1962 An avalanche on Huascarán in Peru causes 4,000 deaths.
1964 Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Luther Terry, M.D., publishes the landmark report Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the United States saying that smoking may be hazardous to health, sparking national and worldwide anti-smoking efforts.
1972 East Pakistan renames itself Bangladesh.
1973 Major League Baseball owners vote in approval of the American League adopting the designated hitter position.
1980 Barbara Pym (died), English author (born 1913)
1986 The Gateway Bridge, Brisbane in Queensland, Australia is officially opened.
1988 Pappy Boyington (died), American pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1912)
1994 The Irish Government announces the end of a 15-year broadcasting ban on the IRA and its political arm Sinn Féin.
1996 Space Shuttle program: STS-72 launches from the Kennedy Space Center marking the start of the 74th Space Shuttle mission and the 10th flight of Endeavour.
1998 Over 100 people are killed in the Sidi-Hamed massacre in Algeria.
2000 Ivan Combe (died), American inventor and businessman, invented Clearasil (born 1911)
2002 The first twenty captives arrive at Camp X-Ray.
2003 Illinois Governor George Ryan commutes the death sentences of 167 prisoners on Illinois’ death row based on the Jon Burge scandal.
2005 Spencer Dryden (died), American drummer (Jefferson Airplane, The Peanut Butter Conspiracy, New Riders of the Purple Sage, and The Dinosaurs) (born 1938)
2008 Edmund Hillary (died), New Zealand mountaineer and explorer (born 1919)
2008 Carl Karche (died), American businessman, co-founded Carl’s Jr. (born 1917)
2010 Miep Gies (died), Austrian-Dutch humanitarian, helped hide Anne Frank and her family (born 1909)
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
- Patriotism - 4 July, 2017
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- Alternative Facts and Science - 24 January, 2017