1499 Pretender to the throne Perkin Warbeck is hanged for reportedly attempting to escape from the Tower of London. He invaded England in 1497, claiming to be the lost son of King Edward IV of England.
1644 John Milton publishes Areopagitica, a pamphlet decrying censorship.
1705 Thomas Birch (born), English historian (died 1766)
1859 Billy the Kid (born), American criminal (died 1881)
1876 Corrupt Tammany Hall leader William Magear Tweed (better known as Boss Tweed) is delivered to authorities in New York City after being captured in Spain.
1887 Boris Karloff (born), English actor (died 1969)
1889 The first jukebox goes into operation at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco.
1890 King William III of the Netherlands dies without a male heir and a special law is passed to allow his daughter Princess Wilhelmina to become his heir.
1924 Colin Turnbull (born), English-American anthropologist (died 1994)
1924 Edwin Hubble’s scientific discovery that Andromeda, previously believed to be a nebula within our galaxy, is actually another galaxy, and that the Milky Way is only one of many such galaxies in the universe, was first published in a newspaper.
1936 Life magazine is reborn as a photo magazine and enjoys instant success.
1954 Ross Brawn (born), English engineer, founder of Brawn F1
1963 The BBC broadcasts the first episode of Doctor Who (starring William Hartnell) which is the world’s longest running science fiction drama.
1971 Representatives of the People’s Republic of China attend the United Nations, including the United Nations Security Council, for the first time.
1981 Ronald Reagan signs the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), giving the Central Intelligence Agency the authority to recruit and support Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
1990 Roald Dahl (died), Welsh author (born 1916)
1992 The first Smartphone, IBM Simon, was introduced at COMDEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
1996 Mohamed Amin (died), Kenyan photographer and journalist (born 1943)
2011 After 11 months of protests in Yemen, The Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh signs a deal to transfer power to the vice president, in exchange for legal immunity.
2012 Larry Hagman (died), American actor and director (born 1931)
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
- Patriotism - 4 July, 2017
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- Alternative Facts and Science - 24 January, 2017