423 Honorius (died), Roman emperor (born 384)
465 Libius Severus (died), Roman emperor (born 420)
778 The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed.
1040 King Duncan I is killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth. The latter succeeds him as King of Scotland.
1057 King Macbeth is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada.
1195 Anthony of Padua (born), Portuguese priest and saint (died 1231)
1248 The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, is laid. (Construction is eventually completed in 1880.)
1274 Robert de Sorbon (died), French theologian and educator, founded the College of Sorbonne (born 1201)
1281 Mongol invasion of Japan: The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan is destroyed by a “divine wind” for the second time in the Battle of Kōan.
1309 The city of Rhodes surrenders to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights establish their headquarters on the island and rename themselves the Knights of Rhodes.
1483 Pope Sixtus IV consecrates the Sistine Chapel.
1519 Panama City, Panama, is founded.
1537 Asunción, Paraguay, is founded.
1613 Gilles Ménage (born), French scholar (died 1692)
1621 John Barclay (died), Scottish poet (born 1582)
1666 Johann Adam Schall von Bell (died), German missionary and astronomer (born 1591)
1717 Blind Jack (born), English engineer (died 1810)
1736 Johann Christoph Kellner (born), German organist and composer (died 1803)
1769 Napoleon (born), French general and emperor (died 1821)
1771 Walter Scott (born), Scottish author and poet (died 1832)
1785 Thomas De Quincey (born), English author (died 1859)
1812 War of 1812: The Battle of Fort Dearborn is fought between United States troops and Potawatomi at what is now Chicago, Illinois.
1843 The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, Hawaii is dedicated. Now the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, it is the oldest Roman Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States.
1843 Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark.
1852 Johan Gadolin (died), Finnish chemist, physicist, and mineralogist (born 1760)
1859 Charles Comiskey (born), American baseball player and manager (died 1931)
1860 Florence Harding (born), American publisher, 31st First Lady of the United States (died 1924)
1873 Ramaprasad Chanda (born), Indian archaeologist and historian (died 1942)
1875 Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (born), English pianist, violinist, and composer (died 1912)
1879 Ethel Barrymore (born), American actress (died 1959)
1885 Edna Ferber (born), American author (died 1968)
1892 Louis de Broglie (born), French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1987)
1900 Estelle Brody (born), American actress (died 1995)
1901 Pyotr Novikov (born), Russian mathematician (died 1975)
1904 George Klein (born), Canadian inventor, invented the Motorized wheelchair (died 1992)
1909 Hugo Winterhalter (born), American composer and bandleader (died 1973)
1912 Julia Child (born), American chef and author (died 2004)
1914 A male servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright sets fire to the living quarters of the latter’s Wisconsin home, Taliesin, murders seven people and burns the living quarters to the ground.
1914 The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship SS Ancon.
1915 A story in New York World newspaper reveals that the Imperial German government had purchased excess phenol from Thomas Edison that could be used to make explosives for the war effort and diverted it to Bayer for aspirin production.
1925 Bill Pinkney (born), American singer (The Drifters) (died 2007)
1928 Anatole von Hügel (died), Italian ethnologist, co-founded St Edmund’s College (born 1854)
1931 Paul McDowell (born), English actor and writer
1932 Jim Lange (born), American game show host (died 2014)
1934 Bobby Byrd (born), American singer-songwriter and producer (The Famous Flames) (died 2007)
1935 Vernon Jordan (born), American lawyer, businessman, and activist
1935 Will Rogers (born 1879) and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska.
1938 Maxine Waters (born), American educator and politician
1939 The Wizard of Oz premieres at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California.
1940 An Italian submarine torpedoes and sinks the Greek cruiser Elli at Tinos harbor during peacetime, marking the most serious Italian provocation prior to the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in October.
1941 Corporal Josef Jakobs is executed by firing squad at the Tower of London at 07:12, making him the last person to be executed at the Tower for espionage.
1944 Linda Ellerbee (born), American journalist and author
1944 World War II: Operation Dragoon — Allied forces land in southern France.
1945 World War II: Japan surrenders to end the war.
1947 India gains Independence from the British Indian Empire after near 90 years of Crown rule and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.
1948 The Republic of Korea is established south of the 38th parallel north.
1950 Anne (born), Princess Royal of the United Kingdom
1950 Tommy Aldridge (born), American drummer (Motörhead, Whitesnake, Black Oak Arkansas, and Thin Lizzy)
1954 Stieg Larsson (born), Swedish journalist and author (died 2004)
1958 Simon Baron-Cohen (born), English-Canadian psychiatrist and author
1960 Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) becomes independent from France.
1961 Border guard Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall.
1963 Execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland, UK.
1964 Melinda Gates (born), American businesswoman and philanthropist, co-founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
1965 The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York, New York, an event later regarded as the birth of stadium rock.
1968 Debra Messing (born), American actress, singer, and producer
1969 Woodstock rock and roll concert opens.
1970 Patricia Palinkas becomes the first woman to play professionally in an American football game.
1971 Bahrain gains independence from the United Kingdom.
1971 President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors.
1972 Ben Affleck (born), American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1973 Vietnam War: The United States bombing of Cambodia ends.
1977 The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the “Wow! signal” from the notation made by a volunteer on the project.
1978 Tim Foreman (born), American bass player (Switchfoot)
1982 Ernie Bushmiller (died), American cartoonist (born 1905)
1989 Joe Jonas (born), American singer-songwriter and actor (Jonas Brothers)
1995 In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel (she drops out less than a week later).
2005 Israel’s unilateral disengagement plan to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank begins.
2013 The Smithsonian announces the discovery of the Olinguito, the first new carnivoran species found in the Americas in 35 years.
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