1178 Five Canterbury monks see what is possibly the Giordano Bruno crater being formed. It is believed that the current oscillations of the Moon’s distance from the Earth (on the order of meters) are a result of this collision.
1429 French forces under the leadership of Joan of Arc defeat the main English army under Sir John Fastolf at theBattle of Patay. This turns the tide of the Hundred Years’ War.
1466 Ottaviano Petrucci (birth), Italian printer (died 1539)
1588 Robert Crowley (died), English poet (born 1517)
1650 Christoph Scheiner (died), German priest, physicist, and astronomer (born 1575)
1673 Jeanne Mance (died), French-Canadian nurse, founder the Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal (born 1606)
1684 The charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony is revoked via a scire facias writ issued by an English court.
1717 Johann Stamitz (birth), Czech violinist and composer (died 1757)
1757 Ignaz Pleyel (birth), Austrian-French composer and piano manufacturer (died 1831)
1767 Samuel Wallis, an English sea captain, sights Tahiti and is considered the first European to reach the island.
1778 American Revolutionary War: British troops abandon Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1794 James Murray (died), Scottish-English general and politician (born 1721)
1812 War of 1812: The U.S. Congress declares war on the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Canada, and Ireland.
1815 –The Battle of Waterloo results in the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte by the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher forcing him to abdicate the throne of France for the second and last time.
1815 Thomas Picton (died), Welsh general (born 1758)
1830 French invasion of Algeria.
1839 William H. Seward, Jr. (birth), American general (died 1920)
1854 E. W. Scripps (birth), American publisher, founded the E. W. Scripps Company (died 1926)
1857 Henry Clay Folger (birth), American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Folger Shakespeare Library (died 1930)
1858 Charles Darwin receives a paper from Alfred Russel Wallace that includes nearly identical conclusions about evolution as Darwin’s own, prompting Darwin to publish his theory.
1859 First ascent of Aletschhorn, second summit of the Bernese Alps.
1873 Susan B. Anthony is fined $100 for attempting to vote in the 1872 presidential election.
1886 George Mallory (birth), English mountaineer (died 1924)
1900 Empress Dowager Longyu of China orders all foreigners killed, including foreign diplomats and their families.
1902 Samuel Butler (died), English author and poet (born 1835)
1903 Jeanette MacDonald (birth), American actress and singer (died 1965)
1905 Eduard Tubin (birth), Estonian composer and conductor (died 1982)
1908 Bud Collyer (birth), American actor and game show host (died 1969)
1908 Japanese immigration to Brazil begins when 781 people arrive in Santos aboard the ship Kasato-Maru.
1908 The University of the Philippines is established.
1910 Ray McKinley (birth), American singer, drummer, and bandleader (Glenn Miller Orchestra) (died 1995)
1913 Robert Mondavi (birth), American winemaker (died 2008)
1913 Sammy Cahn (birth), American songwriter (died 1993)
1913 Sylvia Porter (birth), American economist and journalist (died 1991)
1914 E. G. Marshall (birth), American actor (died 1998)
1915 Eufemio Zapata (died), Mexican brother of Emiliano Zapata (born 1873)
1915 Red Adair (birth), American firefighter (died 2004)
1916 Max Immelmann (died), German pilot (born 1890)
1917 Richard Boone (birth), American actor, singer, and director (died 1981)
1923 Checker Taxi puts its first taxi on the streets.
1928 Aviator Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly in an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean (she is a passenger; Wilmer Stultz is the pilot and Lou Gordon the mechanic).
1928 David T. Lykken (birth), American geneticist (died 2006)
1928 Roald Amundsen (died), Norwegian explorer (born 1872)
1936 Barack Obama, Sr. (birth), Kenyan economist (died 1982)
1936 Denny Hulme (birth), New Zealand race car driver (died 1992)
1936 Maxim Gorky (died), Russian author (born 1868)
1937 Bruce Trigger (birth), Canadian archaeologist, anthropologist and historian (died 2006)
1937 Jay Rockefeller (birth), American politician
1940 “Finest Hour” speech by Winston Churchill.
1942 Carl Radle (birth), American bass player and producer (Delaney & Bonnie and Derek and the Dominos) (died 1980)
1942 Nick Tate (birth), Australian actor
1942 Paul McCartney (birth), English musician, singer and songwriter (The Quarrymen, the Beatles, Wings and the Fireman)
1942 Roger Ebert (birth) American journalist, critic, and screenwriter (died 2013)
1959 Ethel Barrymore (died), American actress (born 1879)
1974 Júlio César de Mello e Souza (died), Brazilian mathematician and author (born 1896)
1976 Blake Shelton (birth), American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1978 Walter C. Alvarez (died), American physician (born 1884)
1979 SALT II is signed by the United States and the Soviet Union.
1981 The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, the first operational aircraft initially designed around stealth technology, makes its first flight.
1982 John Cheever (died), American author (born 1912)
1983 Mona Mahmudnizhad together with nine other Bahá’í women, is sentenced to death and hanged in Shiraz, Iran because of her Bahá’í Faith.
1983 Space Shuttle program: STS-7, Astronaut Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space.
1986 Frances Scott Fitzgerald (died), American journalist and author (born 1921)
1996 Ted Kaczynski, suspected of being the Unabomber, is indicted on ten criminal counts.
2008 Tasha Tudor (died), American author and illustrator (born 1915)
2011 Clarence Clemons (died), American saxophonist and actor (E Street Band) (born 1942)
2013 Alastair Donaldson (died), Scottish bass player (The Rezillos and Silly Wizard) (born 1955)
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