73 Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the Great Jewish Revolt.
1495 Petrus Apianus (born), German mathematician and astronomer (died 1557)
1521 Martin Luther’s first appearance before the Diet of Worms to be examined by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles Vand the other estates of the empire.
1582 Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina.
1660 Hans Sloane (born), Irish-English physician (died 1753)
1661 Charles Montagu (born), 1st Earl of Halifax, English poet and politician (died 1715)
1682 John Hadley (born), English mathematician, invented the octant (died 1744)
1687 George Villiers (died), 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English poet and politician (born 1628)
1728 Joseph Black (born), French-Scottish physician and chemist (died 1799)
1755 Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun (born), French painter (died 1842)
1788 Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (died), French mathematician, cosmologist, and author (born 1707)
1818 The United States Senate ratifies the Rush-Bagot Treaty, establishing the border with Canada.
1828 Francisco Goya (died), Spanish painter (born 1746)
1844 Anatole France (born), French journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1924)
1846 Domenico Dragonetti (died), Italian bassist and composer (born 1763)
1847 Hans Auer (born), Swiss-Austrian architect, designed the Federal Palace of Switzerland (died 1906)
1847 The accidental shooting of a Māori by an English sailor results in the opening of the Wanganui Campaign of the New Zealand land wars.
1850 Marie Tussaud (died), French-English sculptor, founded the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum (born 1761)
1853 The first passenger rail opens in India, from Bori Bunder, Bombay to Thane.
1859 Alexis de Tocqueville (died), French historian (born 1805)
1862 American Civil War: The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia, becomes law.
1863 American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg – ships led by Union Admiral David Dixon Porter move through heavy Confederate artillery fire on approach to Vicksburg, Mississippi.
1867 Wilbur Wright (born), American pilot, inventor, and businessman, co-founded the Wright Company (died 1912)
1881 In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle.
1886 Margaret Woodrow Wilson (born), American daughter of Woodrow Wilson (died 1944)
1889 Charlie Chaplin (born), English actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (died 1977)
1907 Joseph-Armand Bombardier (born), Canadian inventor and businessman (died 1964)
1908 Natural Bridges National Monument is established in Utah.
1912 Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.
1918 Spike Milligan (born), Indian-Irish actor, singer, screenwriter, and author (died 2002)
1919 Gandhi organizes a day of “prayer and fasting” in response to the killing of Indian protesters in the Amritsar Massacre by the British.
1919 Pedro Ramírez Vázquez (born), Mexican architect, designed the Tijuana Cultural Center and Museo Nacional de Antropología (died 2013)
1921 Peter Ustinov (born), English actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2004)
1924 Henry Mancini (born), American composer and conductor (died 1994)
1924 Rudy Pompilli (born), American saxophonist (Bill Haley & His Comets) (died 1976)
1926 Pierre Fabre (born), French pharmacist, founded Laboratoires Pierre Fabre (died 2013)
1927 Edie Adams (born), American actress and singer (died 2008)
1927 Pope Benedict XVI (born)
1930 Herbie Mann (born), American flute player (died 2003)
1931 Herman van Ham (born), Dutch chef (died 2012)
1935 Bobby Vinton (born), American singer and actor
1939 Dusty Springfield (born), English singer and producer (The Lana Sisters and The Springfields) (died 1999)
1941 Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians throws the only Opening Day no-hitter in the history of Major League Baseball, beating the Chicago White Sox 1-0.
1942 Frank Williams (born), English businessman, founded the Williams F1 Racing Team
1943 Dave Peverett (born), English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Foghat and Savoy Brown) (died 2000)
1945 The Red Army begins the final assault on German forces around Berlin, with nearly one million troops fighting in the Battle of the Seelow Heights.
1946 Arthur Chevrolet (died), Swiss-American race car driver (born 1884)
1947 Bernard Baruch coins the term “Cold War” to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.
1947 Gerry Rafferty (born), Scottish singer-songwriter (The Humblebums and Stealers Wheel) (died 2011)
1953 J. Neil Schulman (born), American author, actor, director, and producer
1954 Ellen Barkin (born), American actress
1962 Walter Cronkite takes over as the lead news anchor of the CBS Evening News, during which time he would become “the most trusted man in America”.
1963 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pens his Letter from Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation.
1963 Jimmy Osmond (born), American singer and actor (The Osmonds)
1965 Martin Lawrence (born), American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer
1971 Peter Billingsley (born), American actor, director, and producer
1972 Apollo program: The launch of Apollo 16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
1986 Paul di Resta (born), Scottish race car driver
1990 The “Doctor of Death”, Jack Kevorkian, participates in his first assisted suicide.
1992 Neville Brand (died), American actor (born 1920)
1999 Skip Spence (died), Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape) (born 1946)
2002 Robert Urich (died), American actor and producer (born 1946)
2007 Frank Bateson (died), New Zealand astronomer (born 1909)
2007 Virginia Tech massacre: Seung-Hui Cho kills 32 and injures 23 before committing suicide.
2012 The Pulitzer Prize winners were announced, it was the first time since 1977 that no book won the Fiction Prize.
2013 George Beverly Shea (died), Canadian-American singer-songwriter (born 1909)
2013 Pedro Ramírez Vázquez (died), Mexican architect, designed the Tijuana Cultural Center and Museo Nacional de Antropología (born 1919)
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