1214 The University of Oxford receives its charter.
1469 Gian Galeazzo Sforza (born), Italian husband of Isabella of Naples (died 1494)
1733 Betty Washington Lewis (born), American sister of George Washington (died 1797)
1756 A British garrison is imprisoned in the Black Hole of Calcutta.
1761 Jacob Hübner (born), German entomologist and author (died 1826)
1782 The U.S. Congress adopts the Great Seal of the United States.
1789 Deputies of the French Third Estate take the Tennis Court Oath.
1819 Jacques Offenbach (born), German-French cellist and composer (died 1880)
1819 The U.S. vessel SS Savannah arrives at Liverpool, England, United Kingdom. It is the first steam-propelled vessel to cross the Atlantic, although most of the journey is made under sail.
1837 Queen Victoria succeeds to the British throne.
1840 Samuel Morse receives the patent for the telegraph.
1855 Richard Lodge (born), English historian (died 1936)
1858 Charles W. Chesnutt (born), American author (died 1932)
1863 American Civil War: West Virginia is admitted as the 35th U.S. state.
1875 Reginald Punnett (born), English geneticist (died 1967)
1877 Alexander Graham Bell installs the world’s first commercial telephone service in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
1887 Victoria Terminus, the busiest railway station in India, opens in Bombay.
1893 Lizzie Borden is acquitted of the murders of her father and stepmother.
1900 Boxer Rebellion: The Imperial Chinese Army begins a 55-day siege of the Legation Quarter in Beijing, China.
1905 Lillian Hellman (born), American playwright (died 1984)
1907 Jimmy Driftwood (born), American singer-songwriter and banjo player (died 1998)
1909 Errol Flynn (born), Australian-American actor, singer, and producer (died 1959)
1924 Audie Murphy (born), American lieutenant and actor Medal of Honor recipient (died 1971)
1924 Chet Atkins (born), American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (died 2001)
1924 Fritz Koenig (born), German sculptor, designed The Sphere
1928 Martin Landau (born), American actor
1931 Olympia Dukakis (born), American actress
1942 Brian Wilson (born), American singer-songwriter and producer (The Beach Boys)
1943 The Detroit Race Riot breaks out and continues for three more days.
1945 The United States Secretary of State approves the transfer of Wernher von Braun and his team of Nazi rocket scientists to America.
1946 André Watts (born), American pianist and educator
1947 Bugsy Siegel (died), American mobster (born 1906)
1948 Toast of the Town, later The Ed Sullivan Show, makes its television debut.
1949 Alan Longmuir (born), Scottish bass player and actor (Bay City Rollers)
1949 Lionel Richie (born), American singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and actor (Commodores)
1952 John Goodman (born), American actor and singer
1952 Luigi Fagioli (died), Italian race car driver (born 1898)
1954 Michael Anthony (born), American bass player (Van Halen and Chickenfoot)
1958 Kurt Alder (died), German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1902)
1960 John Taylor (born), English bass player, songwriter, producer, and actor (Duran Duran, Power Station, Neurotic Outsiders)
1960 The Mali Federation gains independence from France (it later splits into Mali and Senegal).
1963 Raphaël Salem (died), Greek-French mathematician (born 1898)
1963 The so-called “red telephone” is established between the Soviet Union and the United States following the Cuban Missile Crisis.
1965 Bernard Baruch (died), American financier and politician (born 1870)
1967 Nicole Kidman (born), Australian-American actress, singer, and producer
1971 Jeordie White (born), American singer-songwriter and musician (Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, A Perfect Circle, Goon Moon and The Desert Sessions)
1972 Howard Deering Johnson (died), American businessman, founded Howard Johnson’s (born 1897)
1972 Watergate scandal: An 18½-minute gap appears in the tape recording of the conversations between U.S. President Richard Nixon and his advisers regarding the recent arrests of his operatives while breaking into the Watergate complex.
1973 Chino Moreno (born), American singer-songwriter (Deftones, Team Sleep, and Crosses)
1974 Horace Lindrum (died), Australian snooker player (born 1912)
1979 ABC News correspondent Bill Stewart is shot dead by a Nicaraguan soldier under the regime of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. The murder is caught on tape and sparks an international outcry against the regime.
1982 The Argentine base (Corbeta Uruguay) on Southern Thule surrenders to Royal Marine commandos in the final action of the Falklands War.
1990 Asteroid Eureka is discovered.
1991 The German Bundestag votes to move the capital from Bonn back to Berlin.
1997 Lawrence Payton (died), American singer-songwriter and producer (The Four Tops) (born 1938)
2003 The WikiMedia Foundation is founded in St. Petersburg, Florida.
2010 Harry B. Whittington (died), English palaeontologist (born 1916)
2011 Ryan Dunn (died), American stuntman and actor (born 1977)
2012 Judy Agnew (died), American wife of Spiro Agnew, 29th Second Lady of the United States (born 1921)
2012 LeRoy Neiman (died), American painter (born 1921)
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
- Patriotism - 4 July, 2017
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- Alternative Facts and Science - 24 January, 2017