1632 Baruch Spinoza (born), Dutch philosopher (died 1677)
1642 Abel Tasman becomes the first European to discover the island Van Diemen’s Land (later renamed Tasmania).
1713 Junípero Serra (born), Spanish missionary (died 1784)
1835 The Texas Provincial Government authorizes the creation of a horse-mounted police force called the Texas Rangers (which is now the Texas Ranger Division of the Texas Department of Public Safety).
1864 Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (born), French painter (died 1901)
1897 Lucky Luciano (born), Italian-American mobster (died 1962)
1906 A 13-6 victory by the Massillon Tigers over their rivals, the Canton Bulldogs, for the “Ohio League” Championship, leads to accusations that the championship series was fixed and results in the first major scandal in professional American football.
1925 William F. Buckley, Jr. (born), American publisher and author, founded the National Review (died 2008)
1941 Donald “Duck” Dunn (born), American bass player and songwriter (Booker T. and the M.G.’s, The Mar-Keys, and The Blues Brothers) (died 2012)
1946 Ted Bundy (born), American serial killer (died 1989)
1949 Linda Tripp (born), American civil servant
1950 The “Storm of the Century”, a violent snowstorm, takes shape on this date before paralyzing the northeastern United States and the Appalachians the next day, bringing winds up to 100 mph and sub-zero temperatures. Pickens, West Virginia, records 57 inches of snow. 353 people would die as a result of the storm.
1957 Diego Rivera (died), Mexican painter (born 1886)
1962 The influential British satirical television program That Was The Week That Was is first broadcast.
1963 Lee Harvey Oswald (born 1939), American assassin of John F. Kennedy, is murdered by Jack Ruby in the basement of Dallas police department headquarters. The shooting happens to be broadcast live on television.
1963 Vietnam War: Newly sworn-in US President Lyndon B. Johnson confirms that the United States intends to continue supporting South Vietnam both militarily and economically.
1971 During a severe thunderstorm over Washington state, a hijacker calling himself Dan Cooper (AKA D. B. Cooper) parachutes from a Northwest Orient Airlines plane with $200,000 in ransom money. He has never been found.
1973 A national speed limit is imposed on the Autobahn in Germany because of the 1973 oil crisis. The speed limit lasted only four months.
1974 Donald Johanson and Tom Gray discover the 40% complete Australopithecus afarensis skeleton, nicknamed “Lucy” (after The Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”), in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia’s Afar Depression.
1991 Freddie Mercury (died), Tanzanian-English singer-songwriter and producer (Queen and Ibex) (born 1946)
2003 Snowflake (died), albino gorilla (born 1964)
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
- Patriotism - 4 July, 2017
- The Super Sucker Bowl - 10 February, 2017
- Alternative Facts and Science - 24 January, 2017