1524 Giovanni da Verrazzano sets sail westward from Madeira to find a sea route to the Pacific Ocean.
1595 Henry IV of France declares war on Spain.
1705 John Ray (died), English historian (born 1627)
1706 Benjamin Franklin (born), American politician, scientist, and publisher, 6th President of Pennsylvania (died 1790)
1718 Benjamin Church (died), American captain (born 1639)
1761 Sir James Hall (born), 4th Baronet, Scottish geologist (died 1832)
1773 Captain James Cook and his crew become the first Europeans to sail below the Antarctic Circle.
1781 American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cowpens Continental troops under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan defeat British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton at the battle in South Carolina.
1789 August Neander (born), German theologian and historian (died 1850)
1820 Anne Brontë (born), English author and poet (died 1849)
1834 August Weismann (born), German biologist (died 1914)
1852 The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Boer colonies of the Transvaal.
1867 Carl Laemmle (born), German-American film producer, co-founded Universal Studios (died 1939)
1885 A British force defeats a large Dervish army at the Battle of Abu Klea in the Sudan.
1893 Rutherford B. Hayes (died), American politician, 19th President of the United States (born 1822)
1895 John Duff (born), Canadian racing driver, winner of 1924 24 Hours of Le Mans (died 1958)
1897 Marcel Petiot (born), French doctor and serial killer (died 1946)
1899 Al Capone (born), American gangster (died 1947)
1899 Nevil Shute (born), English author (died 1960)
1899 The United States takes possession of Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean.
1904 Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard receives its premiere performance at the Moscow Art Theatre.
1911 Francis Galton (died), English polymath, anthropologist, and geographer (born 1822)
1912 Captain Robert Falcon Scott reaches the South Pole, one month after Roald Amundsen.
1917 The United States pays Denmark $25 million for the Virgin Islands.
1922 Betty White (born), American actress and singer
1927 Eartha Kitt (born), American actress and singer (died 2008)
1928 Vidal Sassoon (born), English-American hairdresser (died 2012)
1929 Popeye the Sailor Man, a cartoon character created by Elzie Segar, first appears in the Thimble Theatre comic strip.
1931 James Earl Jones (born), American actor
1933 Louis Comfort Tiffany (died), American stained glass artist (born 1848)
1933 Shari Lewis (born) American actress, puppeteer, and television host (died 1998)
1939 Maury Povich (born), American talk show host
1940 Kipchoge Keino (born), Kenyan runner
1942 Muhammad Ali (born), American boxer
1942 Walther von Reichenau (died), German field marshal (born 1884)
1944 World War II: Allied forces launch the first of four assaults on Monte Cassino with the intention of breaking through the Winter Line and seizing Rome, an effort that would ultimately take four months and cost 105,000 Allied casualties.
1945 World War II: Soviet forces capture the almost completely destroyed Polish city of Warsaw.
1946 The UN Security Council holds its first session.
1949 Mick Taylor (born), English singer-songwriter and guitarist (John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and The Rolling Stones)
1949 The Goldbergs, the first sitcom on American television, airs for the first time.
1950 The Great Brinks Robbery 11 thieves steal more than $2 million from an armored car company’s offices in Boston, Massachusetts.
1954 Robert F. Kennedy (born), Jr., American lawyer, radio host, and activist
1961 Former Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba is murdered in circumstances suggesting the support and complicity of the governments of Belgium and the United States.
1961 U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers a televised farewell address to the nation three days before leaving office, in which he warns against the accumulation of power by the “military-industrial complex”.
1962 Jim Carrey (born), Canadian-American actor and producer
1962 Sebastian Junger (born), American journalist and author
1964 Michelle Obama (born), American wife of Barack Obama, 46th First Lady of the United States
1966 Palomares incident: A B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 Stratotanker over Spain, dropping three 70-kiloton nuclear bombs near the town of Palomares and another one into the sea.
1969 Black Panther Party members Bunchy Carter and John Huggins are killed during a meeting in Campbell Hall on the campus of UCLA.
1977 Convicted murderer Gary Gilmore is executed by a firing squad in Utah, ending a ten-year moratorium on capital punishment in the United States.
1981 President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos lifts martial law eight years and five months after declaring it.
1982 “Cold Sunday”: in numerous cities in the United States temperatures fall to their lowest levels in over 100 years.
1983 The tallest department store in the world, Hudson’s flagship store in downtown Detroit, closes due to high cost of operating.
1989 Cleveland School massacre: Patrick Purdy opens fire with an assault rifle at the Cleveland Elementary School playground in Stockton, California, killing five children and wounding 29 others and one teacher before taking his own life.
1991 Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm begins early in the morning. Iraq fires 8 Scud missiles into Israel in an unsuccessful bid to provoke Israeli retaliation.
1992 During a visit to South Korea, Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa apologizes for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery during World War II.
1994 1994 Northridge earthquake: A magnitude 6.7 earthquake hits Northridge, California.
1995 The Great Hanshin earthquake: A magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurs near Kobe, Japan, causing extensive property damage and killing 6,434 people.
1996 Amber Hagerma (died)n, American kidnapped victim, inspired the AMBER Alert system (born 1986)
1996 The Czech Republic applies for membership of the European Union.
1997 A Delta 2 carrying a GPS2R satellite explodes 13 seconds after launch, dropping 250 tons of burning rocket remains around the launch pad.
1998 Lewinsky scandal: Matt Drudge breaks the story of the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky affair on his website The Drudge Report.
2001 U.S. President Bill Clinton posthumously promotes Meriwether Lewis from Lieutenant to Captain.
2002 Mount Nyiragongo erupts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing an estimated 400,000 people.
2003 Richard Crenna (died), American actor (born 1926)
2007 Art Buchwald (died), American columnist (born 1925)
2007 The Doomsday Clock is set to five minutes to midnight in response to North Korea nuclear testing.
2008 Bobby Fische (died), American chess player and author (born 1943)
2010 Erich Segal (died) American author and screenwriter (born 1937)
2010 Rioting begins between Muslim and Christian groups in Jos, Nigeria, resulting in at least 200 deaths.
2011 Don Kirshner (died), American composer (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