1513 Thomas Smith (born), English diplomat and scholar (died 1577)
1783 George Washington resigns as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army at the Maryland State House in Annapolis, Maryland.
1805 Joseph Smith (born), American religious leader, founder and leader of the Latter Day Saint movement (died 1844)
1805 Pehr Osbeck (died), Swedish explorer (born 1723)
1823 A Visit from St. Nicholas, also known as The Night Before Christmas, is published anonymously.
1834 Thomas Malthus (died), English demographer and economist (born 1766)
1846 Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent (died), French naturalist (born 1780)
1854 Henry B. Guppy (born), English botanist (died 1926)
1884 John Chisum (died), American cattle baron (born 1824)
1885 Pierre Brissaud (born), French painter (died 1964)
1893 The opera Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck is first performed.
1913 The Federal Reserve Act is signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson, creating the Federal Reserve System.
1936 First flight of the Vickers Wellington bomber.
1938 Discovery of the first modern coelacanth in South Africa.
1939 Anthony Fokker (died), Dutch aircraft manufacturer, designed the Fokker Dr. I and Fokker D. VII (born 1890)
1940 Jorma Kaukonen (born), American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna)
1941 World War II: After 15 days of fighting, the Imperial Japanese Army occupies Wake Island.
1947 The transistor is first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories.
1952 William Kristol (born), American politician and journalist, founded The Weekly Standard
1954 First successful kidney transplant is performed by J. Hartwell Harrison and Joseph Murray.
1958 Dedication of Tokyo Tower, the world’s highest self-supporting iron tower.
1968 The 82 sailors from the USS Pueblo are released after eleven months of internment in North Korea.
1970 The North Tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York, New York is topped out at 1,368 feet (417 m), making it the tallest building in the world.
1972 Andrei Tupolev (died), Soviet aircraft designer, designed the Tupolev Tu-95 and Tupolev Tu-104 (born 1888)
1972 The 16 survivors of the Andes flight disaster are rescued after 73 days, having survived by cannibalism.
1973 Charles Atlas (died), Italian-American bodybuilder (born 1892)
1979 Soviet war in Afghanistan: Soviet Union forces occupy Kabul, the Afghan capital.
1982 Jack Webb (died), American actor, producer, and director, star of Dragnet (born 1920)
1982 The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces it has identified dangerous levels of dioxin in the soil of Times Beach, Missouri.
1986 Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California becoming the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world without aerial or ground refueling.
2000 Victor Borge (died), Danish-American comedian, conductor, and pianist (born 1909)
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
- Patriotism - 4 July, 2017
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- Alternative Facts and Science - 24 January, 2017