1239 Edward I of England (born) (died 1307)
1462 Vlad III the Impaler attempts to assassinate Mehmed II (The Night Attack) forcing him to retreat from Wallachia.
1579 Sir Francis Drake claims a land he calls Nova Albion (modern California) for England.
1596 The Dutch explorer Willem Barentsz discovers the Arctic archipelago of Spitsbergen.
1603 Joseph of Cupertino (born), Italian mystic and saint (died 1663)
1673 French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet reach the Mississippi River and become the first Europeans to make a detailed account of its course.
1691 Giovanni Paolo Panini (born), Italian painter and architect (died 1765)
1704 John Kay (born), English inventor, invented the flying shuttle (died 1780)
1714 César-François Cassini de Thury (born), French astronomer and cartographer (died 1784)
1775 American Revolutionary War: Colonists inflict heavy casualties on British forces while losing the Battle of Bunker Hill.
1775 John Pitcairn (died), Scottish-English soldier (born 1722)
1789 In France, the Third Estate declares itself the National Assembly.
1818 Charles Gounod (born), French composer (died 1893)
1839 In the Kingdom of Hawaii, Kamehameha III issues the edict of toleration which gives Roman Catholics the freedom to worship in the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaii Catholic Church and the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace are established as a result.
1843 The Wairau Affray, the first serious clash of arms between Māori and British settlers in the New Zealand Wars, takes place.
1876 American Indian Wars: Battle of the Rosebud1,500 Sioux and Cheyenne led by Crazy Horse beat back General George Crook’s forces at Rosebud Creek in Montana Territory.
1877 American Indian Wars: Battle of White Bird Canyonthe Nez Perce defeat the U.S. Cavalry at White Bird Canyon in the Idaho Territory.
1882 Igor Stravinsky (born), Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (died 1971)
1885 The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor.
1898 Carl Hermann (born), German physicist (died 1961)
1898 M. C. Escher (born), Dutch illustrator (died 1972)
1898 The United States Navy Hospital Corps is established.
1900 Boxer Rebellion: Allied Western and Japanese forces capture the Taku Forts in Tianjin, China.
1901 The College Board introduces its first standardized test, the forerunner to the SAT.
1903 Ruth Graves Wakefield (born), American chef, created the chocolate chip cookie (died 1977)
1904 Ralph Bellamy (born), American actor and singer (died 1991)
1910 Red Foley (born), American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (died 1968)
1915 David “Stringbean” Akeman (born), American singer and banjo player (died 1973)
1916 Terry Gilkyson (born), American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Easy Riders) (died 1999)
1923 Dale C. Thomson (born), Canadian historian and educator (died 1999)
1923 Elroy Hirsch (born), American football player (died 2004)
1927 Martin Böttcher (born), German composer and conductor
1927 Wally Wood (born), American author, illustrator, and publisher (died 1981)
1932 Bonus Army: around a thousand World War I veterans amass at the United States Capitol as the U.S. Senate considers a bill that would give them certain benefits.
1932 John Murtha (born), American colonel and politician (died 2010)
1932 Peter Lupus (born), American bodybuilder and actor
1933 Union Station Massacre: in Kansas City, Missouri, four FBI agents and captured fugitive Frank Nash are gunned down by gangsters attempting to free Nash.
1939 Last public guillotining in France: Eugen Weidmann, a convicted murderer, is guillotined in Versailles outside the Saint-Pierre prison
1940 World War II: sinking of the RMS Lancastria by the Luftwaffe near Saint-Nazaire, France. At least 3,000 are killed; Britain’s worst maritime disaster.
1941 Johan Wagenaar (died), Dutch organist and composer (born 1862)
1941 Nicholas C. Handy (born), English chemist (died 2012)
1943 Barry Manilow (born), American singer-songwriter and producer
1943 Newt Gingrich (born), American politician, 58th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
1944 Iceland declares independence from Denmark and becomes a republic.
1945 Eddy Merckx (born), Belgian cyclist
1945 Ken Livingstone (born), English politician, 1st Mayor of London
1945 Tommy Franks (born), American general
1947 Gregg Rolie (born), American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (Santana, Journey, and The Storm)
1951 Joe Piscopo (born), American actor
1953 East Germany Workers Uprising: in East Germany, the Soviet Union orders a division of troops into East Berlin to quell a rebellion.
1958 The wooden roller coaster at Playland, which is in the Pacific National Exhibition, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada opens. It is still open today.
1960 The Nez Perce tribe is awarded $4 million for 7 million acres (28,000 km2) of land undervalued at 4 cents/acre in the 1863 treaty.
1961 Jeff Chandler (died), American actor and singer (born 1918)
1963 Greg Kinnear (born), American actor and producer
1963 The United States Supreme Court rules 8 to 1 in Abington School District v. Schempp against requiring the reciting of Bible verses and the Lord’s Prayer in public schools.
1965 Dan Jansen (born), American speed skater
1967 Eric Stefani (born), American keyboardist, songwriter, and animator (No Doubt)
1967 The People’s Republic of China announces a successful test of its first thermonuclear weapon.
1971 President Richard Nixon declares the U.S. War on Drugs.
1972 Watergate scandal: five White House operatives are arrested for burgling the offices of the Democratic National Committee, in an attempt by some members of the Republican party to illegally wiretap the opposition.
1975 Joshua Leonard (born), American actor, director, and screenwriter
1976 Scott Adkins (born), English actor and stuntman
1980 Venus Williams (born), American tennis player
1985 STS-51-G Space Shuttle Discovery launches carrying Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a Payload Specialist.
1986 Kate Smith (died), American singer (born 1907)
1987 With the death of the last individual of the species, the Dusky Seaside Sparrow becomes extinct.
1991 Apartheid: the South African Parliament repeals the Population Registration Act which required racial classification of all South Africans at birth.
1992 A “joint understanding” agreement on arms reduction is signed by U.S. President George Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (this would be later codified in START II).
1994 Following a televised low-speed highway chase, O.J. Simpson is arrested for the murders of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.
1996 Thomas Kuhn (died), American historian and philosopher (born 1922)
2008 Cyd Charisse (died), American actress and dancer (born 1922)
2012 Rodney King (died), American victim of police brutality (born 1965)
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