70 BC Virgil (born), Roman poet (died 19 BC)
1564 Andreas Vesalius (died), Flemish anatomist (born 1514)
1582 Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian calendar. In Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, October 4 of this year is followed directly by October 15.
1764 Edward Gibbon observes a group of friars singing in the ruined Temple of Jupiter in Rome, which inspires him to begin work on The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
1783 The Montgolfier brothers’ hot air balloon marks the first human ascent, by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, (tethered balloon).
1793 Queen Marie-Antoinette of France is tried and convicted in a swift, pre-determined trial in the Palais de Justice, Paris, and condemned to death the following day.
1815 Napoleon I of France begins his exile on Saint Helena in the Atlantic Ocean.
1844 Friedrich Nietzsche (born), German philosopher (died 1900)
1863 American Civil War: The H. L. Hunley, the first submarine to sink a ship, sinks during a test, killing its inventor, Horace L. Hunley.
1878 The Edison Electric Light Company begins operation.
1888 The “From Hell” letter sent by Jack the Ripper is received by investigators.
1894 The Dreyfus affair: Alfred Dreyfus is arrested for spying.
1905 C. P. Snow (born), English chemist and author (died 1980)
1917 Mata Hari (died), Dutch dancer (born 1876)
1920 Mario Puzo (born), American author (died 1999)
1926 Michel Foucault (born), French philosopher (died 1984)
1928 The airship, Graf Zeppelin completes its first trans-Atlantic flight, landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey, United States.
1939 The New York Municipal Airport (later renamed La Guardia Airport) is dedicated.
1951 Mexican chemist Luis E. Miramontes conducts the very last step of the first synthesis of norethisterone, the progestin that would later be used in one of the first threeoral contraceptives.
1951 The first episode of I Love Lucy, an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley, airs on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS).
1953 British nuclear test Totem 1 detonated at Emu Field, South Australia.
1956 Fortran, the first modern computer language, is shared with the coding community for the first time.
1964 Cole Porter (died), American composer (born 1891)
1966 Black Panther Party is created by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale.
1969 The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam is held in Washington DC and across the US. Over 2 million demonstrate nationally; about 250,000 in the nation’s capitol.
1990 Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to lessen Cold War tensions and open up his nation.
1997 The first supersonic land speed record is set by Andy Green in Thrust SSC (United Kingdom), exactly 50 years and 1 day after Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier in the Earth’s atmosphere.
2008 The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 733.08 points, or 7.87%, the second worst day in the Dow’s history based on a percentage drop.
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