456 Remistus, Roman general (magister militum), is besieged with a Gothic force at Ravenna and later executed in the Palace in Classis, outside the city.
879 Charles the Simple (born), French king (died 929)
1550 Pope Paul V (born) (died 1621)
1574 Pedro Menéndez de Avilés (died), Spanish admiral and explorer, founded St. Augustine, Florida (born 1519)
1630 The city of Boston, Massachusetts is founded.
1677 Stephen Hales (born), English physiologist and chemist, invented Forceps (died 1761)
1683 Antonie van Leeuwenhoek writes a letter to the Royal Society describing “animalcules”: the first known description of protozoa.
1743 Marquis de Condorcet (born), French mathematician and political scientist (died 1794)
1762 Francesco Geminiani (died), Italian violinist and composer (born 1687)
1776 The Presidio of San Francisco is founded in New Spain.
1778 The Treaty of Fort Pitt is signed. It is the first formal treaty between the United States and a Native American tribe (the Lenape or Delaware Indians).
1787 The United States Constitution is signed in Philadelphia.
1814 Francis Scott Key finishes his poem “Defence of Fort McHenry“, later to be the lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner”.
1826 Bernhard Riemann (born), German mathematician (died 1866)
1839 Ira Davenport (born), American magician (died 1911)
1849 American abolitionist Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery.
1854 David Dunbar Buick (born), Scottish-American businessman, founded Buick Motor Company (died 1929)
1858 Dred Scott (died), American slave (born 1795)
1859 Frank Dawson Adams (born), Canadian geologist (died 1942)
1859 Joshua A. Norton declares himself “Emperor Norton I” of the United States.
1862 American Civil War: George B. McClellan halts the northward drive of Robert E. Lee’s Confederate army in the single-day Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American military history.
1862 American Civil War: The Allegheny Arsenal explosion results in the single largest civilian disaster during the war.
1874 Walter Murdoch (born), Australian academic and author (died 1970)
1877 Henry Fox Talbot (died), English photographer, developed the Calotype Process (born 1800)
1899 Charles Alfred Pillsbury (died), American businessman, co-founded the Pillsbury Company (born 1842)
1900 J. Willard Marriott (born), American businessman, founded the Marriott Corporation (died 1985)
1906 Edgar Wayburn (born), American physician and environmentalist (died 2010)
1907 Warren E. Burger (born), American judge, 15th Chief Justice of the United States (died 1995)
1908 John Creasey (born), English author (died 1973)
1908 The Wright Flyer flown by Orville Wright, with Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge as passenger, crashes killing Selfridge. He becomes the first airplane fatality.
1916 Mary Stewart (born), English-Scottish author (died 2014)
1916 World War I: Manfred von Richthofen (“The Red Baron”), a flying ace of the German Luftstreitkräfte, wins his first aerial combat near Cambrai, France.
1923 Hank Williams (born), American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Drifting Cowboys) (died 1953)
1926 Bill Black (born), American bass player (The Blue Moon Boys) (died 1965)
1928 Roddy McDowall (born), English-American actor, singer, and producer (died 1998)
1929 Stirling Moss (born), English race car driver
1931 Anne Bancroft (born), American actress and singer (died 2005)
1933 Chuck Grassley (born), American politician
1933 Dorothy Loudon (born), American actress and singer (died 2003)
1935 Ken Kesey (born), American author (died 2001)
1939 Taisto Mäki becomes the first man to run the 10,000 metres in under 30 minutes, in a time of 29:52.6
1939 World War II: A German U-boat U 29 sinks the British aircraft carrier HMS Courageous.
1944 Reinhold Messner (born), Italian mountaineer and explorer
1948 John Ritter (born), American actor and producer (died 2003)
1948 Ruth Benedict (died), American anthropologist (born 1887)
1950 Fee Waybill (born), American singer-songwriter and producer (The Tubes)
1953 Rita Rudner (born), American comedian and actress
1957 Malaysia joins the United Nations.
1960 Damon Hill (born), English race car driver
1961 Nives Meroi (born), Italian mountaineer
1961 The world’s first retractable-dome stadium, the Civic Arena, opens in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
1965 Kyle Chandler (born), American actor and producer
1973 Hugo Winterhalter (died), American bandleader and composer (born 1909)
1974 Bangladesh, Grenada and Guinea-Bissau join the United Nations.
1975 Jimmie Johnson (born), American race car driver
1976 The first Space Shuttle, Enterprise, is unveiled by NASA.
1978 The Camp David Accords are signed by Israel and Egypt.
1980 After weeks of strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland, the nationwide independent trade union Solidarity is established.
1983 Vanessa Williams becomes the first black Miss America.
1984 Richard Basehart (died), American actor and director (born 1914)
1985 Laura Ashley (died), Welsh fashion designer, founded Laura Ashley plc (born 1925)
1987 Harry Locke (died), English actor (born 1913)
1987 Pope John Paul II embraces an AIDS-infected boy while visiting San Francisco.
1991 Estonia, North Korea, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia join the United Nations.
1991 The first version of the Linux kernel (0.01) is released to the Internet.
1994 Karl Popper (died), Austrian-English philosopher (born 1902)
1994 Vitas Gerulaitis (died), American tennis player (born 1954)
1996 Spiro Agnew (died), American soldier and politician, 39th Vice President of the United States (born 1918)
1997 Red Skelton (died), American actor, singer, producer, and screenwriter (born 1913)
1998 Geoffrey Dutton (died), Australian historian and author (born 1922)
2001 The New York Stock Exchange reopens for trading after the September 11 attacks, the longest closure since the Great Depression.
2006 Patricia Kennedy Lawford (died), American daughter of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. (born 1924)
2011 Occupy Wall Street movement begins in Zuccotti Park, New York City.
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