613 Constantine (8 months old) is crowned as co-emperor (Caesar) by his father Heraclius at Constantinople.
1506 The first contingent of 150 Swiss Guards arrives at the Vatican.
1552 Sir Walter Raleigh (born), English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy and explorer (died 1618)
1561 Francis Bacon (born), English philosopher (died 1626)
1767 Johann Gottlob Lehmann (died), German meteorologist and geologist (born 1719)
1779 Jeremiah Dixon (died), English surveyor and astronomer (born 1733)
1788 Lord Byron (born), English poet (died 1824)
1797 Maria Leopoldina of Austria (born) (died 1826)
1824 The Ashantis defeat British forces in the Gold Coast.
1840 Ernest Roland Wilberforce (born), English bishop (died 1907)
1840 Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (died), German anthropologist (born 1752)
1849 Second Anglo-Sikh War: The Siege of Multan ends after nine months when the last Sikh defenders of Multan,Punjab, surrender.
1869 Grigori Rasputin (born), Russian monk (died 1916)
1874 Edward Harkness (born), American philanthropist (died 1940)
1877 Arthur Tooth, an Anglican clergyman is taken into custody after being prosecuted for using ritualist practices.
1879 Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Isandlwana-Zulu troops defeat British troops.
1879 Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Rorke’s Drift-139 British soldiers defend their garrison against three to four thousand Zulu warriors.
1889 Columbia Phonograph is formed in Washington, D.C.
1890 The United Mine Workers of America is founded in Columbus, Ohio.
1901 Edward VII is proclaimed King after the death of his mother, Queen Victoria.
1901 Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (died) (born 1819)
1904 George Balanchine (born), Russian-American choreographer and director, co-founded the New York City Ballet (died 1983)
1906 SS Valencia runs aground on rocks on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, killing more than 130.
1909 Ann Sothern, American actress (born) (died 2001)
1915 Over 600 people are killed in Guadalajara, Mexico, when a train plunges off the tracks into a deep canyon.
1917 World War I: President Woodrow Wilson of the still-neutral United States calls for “peace without victory” in Europe.
1921 George Streeter (died), American captain and businessman (born 1837)
1924 Ramsay MacDonald becomes the first Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
1927 Teddy Wakelam gives the first live radio commentary of a football match anywhere in the world, between Arsenal F.C. and Sheffield United atHighbury.
1931 Sam Cooke (born), American singer-songwriter (The Soul Stirrers and The Highway Q.C.’s) (died 1964)
1932 Piper Laurie (born), American actress
1934 Bill Bixby (born), American actor (died 1993)
1934 Graham Kerr (born), English chef
1937 Joseph Wambaugh (born), American author
1941 World War II: British and Commonwealth troops capture Tobruk from Italian forces during Operation Compass.
1944 World War II: The Allies commence Operation Shingle, an assault on Anzio, Italy.
1946 Creation of the Central Intelligence Group, forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency.
1947 KTLA, the first commercial television station west of the Mississippi River, begins operation in Hollywood, California.
1949 Steve Perry (born), American singer-songwriter and producer (Journey)
1951 Karl Nessler (died), German-American hairdresser, invented the Perm (born 1872)
1957 Israel withdraws from the Sinai Peninsula.
1957 The New York City “Mad Bomber”, George P. Metesky, is arrested in Waterbury, Connecticut and is charged with planting more than 30 bombs.
1959 Mike Hawthorn (died), English race car driver (born 1929)
1962 The Organization of American States suspends Cuba’s membership.
1963 The Elysée treaty of cooperation between France and Germany is signed by Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer.
1966 Herbert Marshall (died), English actor (born 1890)
1968 Apollo 5 lifts off carrying the first Lunar module into space.
1968 Operation Igloo White, a US electronic surveillance system to stop communist infiltration into South Vietnam begins installation.
1969 A gunman attempts to assassinate Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.
1970 The Boeing 747, the world’s first “jumbo jet”, enters commercial service for launch customer Pan American Airways with its maiden voyage from John F. Kennedy International Airport to London Heathrow Airport.
1971 Harry Frank Guggenheim (died), American businessman and publisher, co-founded Newsday (born 1890)
1973 The Supreme Court of the United States delivers its decision in Roe v. Wade, legalizing elective abortion in all fifty states.
1973 Larry Birkhead (born), American photographer
1973 Lyndon B. Johnson (died), American politician, 36th President of the United States (born 1908)
1984 The Apple Macintosh, the first consumer computer to popularize the computer mouse and the graphical user interface, is introduced during Super Bowl XVIII with its famous “1984” television commercial.
1987 Pennsylvania politician R. Budd Dwyer shoots and kills himself during a televised press conference, leading to debates on boundaries in journalism.
1990 Robert Tappan Morris, Jr. is convicted of releasing the 1988 Internet Computer worm.
1991 Gulf War: Three SCUDs and one Patriot missile hit Ramat Gan in Israel, injuring 96 people. Three elderly people die of heart attacks.
1992 Rebel forces occupy Zaire’s national radio station in Kinshasa and broadcast a demand for the government’s resignation.
1994 Telly Savalas (died), American actor (born 1924)
1995 Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Beit Lid massacre In central Israel, near Netanya, two suicide bombers from the Gaza Strip blow themselves up at a military transit point killing 19 Israelis.
1995 Rose Kennedy (died), American philanthropist (born 1890)
2000 Craig Claiborne (died), American journalist, author, and critic (born 1920)
2002 Kmart becomes the largest retailer in United States history to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
2003 Bill Mauldin (died), American cartoonist (born 1921)
2006 Evo Morales is inaugurated as President of Bolivia, becoming the country’s first indigenous president.
2007 At least 88 people are killed when two car bombs explode in the Bab Al-Sharqi market in central Baghdad, Iraq.
2012 Joe Paterno (died), American football player and coach (born 1926)
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
- Patriotism - 4 July, 2017
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- Alternative Facts and Science - 24 January, 2017