1363 Maria (born), Queen of Sicily (died 1401)
1489 Thomas Cranmer (born), English archbishop (died 1556)
1492 Elizabeth Tudor (born), English daughter of Henry VII of England (died 1495)
1504 Bogdan III the One-Eyed becomes Voivode of Moldavia.
1555 The Ottoman Admiral Turgut Reis sacks the Italian city of Paola.
1566 Nostradamus (died), French astrologer and author (born 1503)
1591 Vincenzo Galilei (died), Italian lute player and composer (born 1520)
1613 The first English expedition from Massachusetts against Acadia led by Samuel Argall takes place.
1621 Thomas Harriot (died), English astronomer, mathematician, and ethnographer (born 1560)
1679 Europeans first visit Minnesota and see headwaters of Mississippi in an expedition led by Daniel Greysolon de Du Luth.
1698 Thomas Savery patents the first steam engine.
1714 Christoph Willibald Gluck (born), German composer (died 1787)
1746 Thomas Baker (died), English antiquarian (born 1656)
1750 Thomas Spence (born), English author (died 1814)
1776 The Continental Congress adopts a resolution severing ties with the Kingdom of Great Britain although the wording of the formal Declaration of Independence is not approved until July 4.
1777 Vermont becomes the first American territory to abolish slavery.
1778 Jean-Jacques Rousseau (died), Swiss philosopher and composer (born 1712)
1822 35 African American slaves are hanged in South Carolina, including Denmark Vesey, after being accused of organizing a slave rebellion.
1839 Twenty miles off the coast of Cuba, 53 rebelling African slaves led by Joseph Cinqué take over the slave ship Amistad.
1853 The Russian Army crossed the Pruth River into the Danubian Principalities, Moldavia and Wallachia—providing the spark that set off the Crimean War.
1855 Louis Maxson (born), American archer (died 1916)
1862 William Henry Bragg (born), English physicist, chemist, and mathematician Nobel Prize laureate (died 1942)
1865 Lily Braun (born), German author (died 1916)
1877 Hermann Hesse (born), German-Swiss author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1962)
1881 Charles J. Guiteau shoots and fatally wounds U.S. President James Garfield, who eventually dies from an infection on September 19.
1890 The U.S. Congress passes the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
1893 Ralph Hancock (born), Welsh gardener and author (died 1950)
1897 Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi obtains a patent for radio in London.
1900 The first Zeppelin flight takes place on Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen, Germany.
1904 René Lacoste (born), French tennis player and businessman, created the polo shirt (died 1996)
1908 Thurgood Marshall (born), American jurist, 32nd United States Solicitor General (died 1993)
1914 Frederick Fennell (born), American conductor (died 2004)
1916 Louis Maxson (died), American archer (born 1855)
1917 The East St. Louis Riots end.
1922 Pierre Cardin (born), Italian-French fashion designer
1925 Medgar Evers (born), American activist (died 1963)
1929 Imelda Marcos (born), Filipino politician, 10th First Lady of the Philippines
1930 Ahmad Jamal (born), American pianist, composer, and educator
1932 Dave Thomas (born), American businessman and philanthropist, founded Wendy’s (died 2002)
1934 The Night of the Long Knives ends with the death of Ernst Röhm.
1937 Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan are last heard from over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first equatorial round-the-world flight.
1937 Richard Petty (born), American race car driver
1939 John H. Sununu (born), American politician, 14th White House Chief of Staff
1939 Paul Williams (born), American singer and choreographer (The Temptations) (died 1973)
1940 Kenneth Clarke (born), English politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
1942 Vicente Fox (born), Mexican politician, 35th President of Mexico
1946 Richard Axel (born), American neuroscientist, Nobel Prize laureate
1947 Luci Baines Johnson (born), American daughter of Lyndon B. Johnson
1948 Gene McFadden (born), American singer-songwriter and producer (McFadden & Whitehead) (died 2006)
1949 Roy Bittan (born), American keyboard player and songwriter (E Street Band)
1952 Johnny Colla (born), American guitarist and songwriter (Huey Lewis and the News)
1953 Mark Hart (born), American guitarist and keyboard player (Crowded House and Supertramp)
1954 Pete Briquette (born), Irish bass player, songwriter, and producer (The Boomtown Rats)
1959 Mike Hallett (born), English snooker player
1961 Ernest Hemingway (died), American journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1899)
1962 The first Wal-Mart store opens for business in Rogers, Arkansas.
1963 Alicia Patterson (died), American publisher, co-founded Newsday (born 1906)
1964 Fireball Roberts (died), American race car driver (born 1929)
1964 U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 meant to prohibit segregation in public places.
1966 The French military explodes a nuclear test bomb codenamed Aldébaran in Mururoa, their first nuclear test in the Pacific.
1973 Betty Grable (died), American actress, singer, and dancer (born 1916)
1976 Fall of the Republic of Vietnam; Communist North Vietnam declares their union to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
1977 Vladimir Nabokov (died), Russian-Swiss author (born 1899)
1979 Sam Hornish, Jr. (born), American race car driver
1986 Rodrigo Rojas and Carmen Gloria Quintana were burnt alive during a street demonstration against the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet in Chile.
1991 Lee Remick (died), American actress (born 1935)
1997 James Stewart (died), American actor and singer (born 1908)
1999 Mario Puzo (died), American author and screenwriter (born 1920)
2000 Vicente Fox Quesada is elected the first President of México from an opposition party, the Partido Acción Nacional, after more than 70 years of continuous rule by the Partido Revolucionario Institucional.
2001 The AbioCor self-contained artificial heart is first implanted.
2002 Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly solo around the world nonstop in a balloon.
2007 Beverly Sills (died), American soprano (born 1929)
2010 The South Kivu tank truck explosion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo kills at least 230 people.
2013 A 6.1 magnitude earthquake strikes Aceh, Indonesia, killing at least 42 people and injuring 420 others.
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
- Patriotism - 4 July, 2017
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- Alternative Facts and Science - 24 January, 2017