332 Constantine the Great announced free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople.
526 Pope John I (died) (born 470)
1048 Omar Khayyám (born), Persian mathematician, astronomer, and poet (died 1131)
1152 Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine.
1302 Bruges Matins, the nocturnal massacre of the French garrison in Bruges by members of the local Flemish militia.
1499 Alonso de Ojeda sets sail from Cadiz on his voyage to what is now Venezuela.
1593 Playwright Thomas Kyd’s accusations of heresy lead to an arrest warrant for Christopher Marlowe.
1631 In Dorchester, Massachusetts, John Winthrop takes the oath of office and becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts.
1652 Rhode Island passes the first law in English-speaking North America making slavery illegal.
1675 Jacques Marquette (died), French-American missionary and explorer (born 1637)
1675 Stanisław Lubieniecki (died), Polish astronomer, theologian, and historian (born 1623)
1692 Elias Ashmole (died), English astrologer and politician (born 1617)
1756 The Seven Years’ War begins when Great Britain declares war on France.
1763 Fire destroys a large part of Montreal, Quebec.
1777 John George Children (born), English chemist, mineralogist, and zoologist (died 1852)
1803 Napoleonic Wars: The United Kingdom revokes the Treaty of Amiens and declares war on France.
1804 Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French by the French Senate.
1808 Elijah Craig (died), American minister, inventor, and educator, invented Bourbon whiskey (born 1738)
1850 Oliver Heaviside (born), English engineer, mathematician, and physicist (died 1925)
1860 Abraham Lincoln wins the Republican Party presidential nomination over William H. Seward, who later becomes the United States Secretary of State.
1863 American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg begins.
1868 Nicholas II of Russia (born) (died 1918)
1872 Bertrand Russell (born), 3rd Earl Russell, English mathematician, historian, and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1970)
1883 Walter Gropius (born), German-American architect, designed the John F. Kennedy Federal Building (died 1969)
1892 Ezio Pinza (born), Italian-American opera singer (died 1957)
1896 Khodynka Tragedy: A mass panic on Khodynka Field in Moscow during the festivities of the coronation of Russian Tsar Nicholas II results in the deaths of 1,389 people.
1896 The United States Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson that the “separate but equal” doctrine is constitutional.
1897 Frank Capra (born), Italian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1991)
1900 Félix Ravaisson-Mollien (died), French archaeologist and philosopher (born 1813)
1904 Jacob K. Javits (born), American politician, 58th New York State Attorney General (died 1986)
1910 The Earth passes through the tail of Comet Halley.
1911 Gustav Mahler (died), Austrian composer (born 1860)
1912 Perry Como (born), American singer and actor (died 2001)
1912 The first Indian film, Shree Pundalik by Dadasaheb Torne is released in Mumbai.
1917 World War I: The Selective Service Act of 1917 is passed, giving the President of the United States the power of conscription.
1920 Pope John Paul II (born) (died 2005)
1922 Kai Winding (born), Danish-American trombonist and composer (died 1983)
1928 Pernell Roberts (born), American actor and singer (died 2010)
1933 Don Whillans (born), English mountaineer (died 1985)
1933 New Deal: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.
1934 Dwayne Hickman (born), American actor and director
1936 Rita Cadillac (born), French dancer, singer, and actress (died 1995)
1944 Albert Hammond (born), English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (The Family Dogg)
1948 Tom Udall (born), American lawyer and politician, 28th New Mexico Attorney General
1949 Bill Wallace (born), Canadian bass player (The Guess Who and Brother)
1949 Rick Wakeman (born), English keyboard player and songwriter (Yes, Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, and Warhorse)
1952 George Strait (born), American singer, guitarist, producer, and actor
1953 Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier.
1955 Operation Passage to Freedom, the evacuation of 310,000 Vietnamese civilians, soldiers and non-Vietnamese members of the French Army from communist North Vietnam to South Vietnam following the end of the First Indochina War, ends.
1956 First ascent of Lhotse 8,516 meters, by a Swiss team.
1958 An F-104 Starfighter sets a world speed record of 1,404.19 mph (2,259.82 km/h).
1960 Yannick Noah (born), French tennis player and singer
1965 Israeli spy Eli Cohen was hanged in Damascus, Syria.
1967 Heinz-Harald Frentzen (born), German race car driver
1969 Apollo program: Apollo 10 is launched.
1970 Tina Fey (born), American actress, screenwriter, and producer
1974 Nuclear test: under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon becoming the sixth nation to do so.
1975 Leroy Anderson (died), American composer (born 1908)
1980 Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, United States, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage.
1980 Victims of Mount St. Helens eruption:
David A. Johnston (died), American volcanologist (born 1949)
Harry Randall Truma (died), American owner and caretaker of Mount St. Helens Lodge (born 1896)
Reid Blackburn (died), American photographer and journalist (born 1952)
1983 In Ireland, the government launches a crackdown, with the leading Dublin pirate Radio Nova being put off the air.
1990 In France, a modified TGV train achieves a new rail world speed record of 515.3 km/h (320.2 mph).
1990 Jill Ireland (died), English-American actress (born 1936)
1991 Northern Somalia declares independence from the rest of Somalia as the Republic of Somaliland but is not recognized by the international community.
1995 Alexander Godunov (died), Russian-American ballet dancer and actor (born 1949)
1995 Shawn Nelson, 35, steals a tank from a National Guard Armory in San Diego, destroying cars and other property and is shot to death by police after immobilizing the tank.
2005 A second photo from the Hubble Space Telescope confirms that Pluto has two additional moons: Nix and Hydra.
2012 Alan Oakley (died), English bicycle designer (born 1927)
2012 Facebook, Inc. began selling stock to the public and trading on the NASDAQ.
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
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