1269 King Louis IX of France orders all Jews found in public without an identifying yellow badge to be fined ten livres of silver.
1566 James VI and I of England (born) (died 1625)
1586 English colonists leave Roanoke Island, after failing to establish England’s first permanent settlement in North America.
1623 Blaise Pascal (born), French mathematician and physicist (died 1662)
1747 Alessandro Marcello (died), Italian composer (born 1669)
1792 Gustav Schwab (born), German author (died 1850)
1816 Battle of Seven Oaks between North West Company and Hudson’s Bay Company, near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
1816 William H. Webb (born), American shipbuilder and philanthropist, founded the Webb Institute (died 1899)
1820 Joseph Banks (died), English botanist (born 1743)
1834 Charles Spurgeon (born), English preacher (died 1892)
1844 Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (died), French biologist (born 1772)
1846 The first officially recorded, organized baseball game is played under Alexander Cartwright’s rules on Hoboken, New Jersey’s Elysian Fields with the New York Base Ball Club defeating the Knickerbockers 23-1. Cartwright umpired.
1862 The U.S. Congress prohibits slavery in United States territories, nullifying Dred Scott v. Sandford.
1865 Over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves in Galveston, Texas, United States, are finally informed of their freedom. The anniversary is still officially celebrated in Texas and 41 other contiguous states as Juneteenth.
1867 Maximilian I of the Second Mexican Empire is executed by a firing squad in Querétaro, Querétaro.
1902 Guy Lombardo (born), Canadian-American violinist and bandleader (died 1977)
1903 Lou Gehrig (born), American baseball player (died 1941)
1910 The first Father’s Day is celebrated in Spokane, Washington.
1919 Pauline Kael (born) American author and critic (died 2001)
1928 Tommy DeVito (born), American singer and guitarist (The Four Seasons and Four Lovers)
1934 The Communications Act of 1934 establishes the United States’ Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
1940 Shirley Muldowney (born), American race car driver
1944 World War II: First day of the Battle of the Philippine Sea.
1947 Salman Rushdie (born), Indian author
1953 Hilary Jones (born), English doctor
1953 Julius (born 1918) and Ethel (born 1915) Rosenberg are executed at Sing Sing, in New York.
1953 Larry Dunn (born), American keyboard player, songwriter, and producer (Earth, Wind & Fire)
1953 Simon Wright (born), English drummer best known for his time with rock n’ roll bands AC/DC and Dio
1954 Kathleen Turner (born), American actress
1956 Danny Chauncey (born), American rock guitarist. He is best known for being a member of the Southern rock band 38 Special
1959 Mark DeBarge (born), American singer-songwriter and trumpet player (DeBarge)
1961 Kuwait declares independence from the United Kingdom.
1962 Paula Abdul (born), American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is approved after surviving an 83-day filibuster in the United States Senate.
1972 Robin Tunney (born), American actress
1975 Sam Giancana (died), American mobster (born 1908)
1976 Dennis Crowley (born), American businessman, co-founded Foursquare
1978 Garfield, holder of the Guinness World Record for the world’s most widely syndicated comic strip, makes its debut.
1978 Zoe Saldana (born), American actress
1982 In one of the first militant attacks by Hezbollah, David S. Dodge, president of the American University in Beirut, is kidnapped.
1982 The body of God’s Banker, Roberto Calvi is found hanging beneath Blackfriars Bridge in London.
1990 The Communist Party of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic is founded in Moscow.
1991 The Soviet occupation of Hungary ends.
1998 Atticus Shaffer (born), American actor
2013 James Gandolfini (died), American actor (born 1961)
2013 Slim Whitman (died), American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1923)
2013 Vince Flynn (died), American author (born 1966)
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