1346 Hundred Years’ War: the military supremacy of the English longbow over the French combination of crossbow and armoured knights is established at the Battle of Crécy.
1349 Thomas Bradwardine (died), English archbishop, mathematician, and physicist (born 1290)
1466 A conspiracy against Piero di Cosimo de’ Medici in Florence, led by Luca Pitti, is discovered.
1498 Michelangelo is commissioned to carve the Pietà.
1666 Frans Hals (died), Dutch painter (born 1580)
1676 Robert Walpole (born), English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1745)
1694 Elisha Williams (born), American minister, politician, and academic (died 1755)
1723 Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (died), Dutch microscopist and biologist (born 1632)
1728 Johann Heinrich Lambert (born), Swiss mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (died 1777)
1740 Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (born), French inventor, invented the hot air balloon (died 1810)
1743 Antoine Lavoisier (born), French chemist (died 1794)
1748 The first Lutheran denomination in North America, the Pennsylvania Ministerium, is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1768 Captain James Cook sets sail from England on board HMS Endeavour.
1778 The first recorded ascent of Triglav, the highest mountain in Slovenia.
1789 The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is approved by the National Constituent Assembly of France.
1791 John Fitch is granted a United States patent for the steamboat.
1821 The University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, is officially opened.
1845 Mary Ann Nichols (born), English victim of Jack the Ripper (died 1888)
1873 Lee de Forest (born), American inventor, invented the Audion tube (died 1961)
1883 The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa begins its final, paroxysmal, stage.
1898 Peggy Guggenheim (born), American art collector (died 1979)
1908 Walter Bruno Henning (born), Prussian-American linguist and scholar (died 1967)
1910 Mother Teresa (born), Macedonian-Indian missionary, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1997)
1910 William James (died), American psychologist and philosopher (born 1842)
1914 World War I: the German colony of Togoland is invaded by French and British forces, who take it after 5 days.
1920 The 19th amendment to United States Constitution takes effect, giving women the right to vote.
1930 Lon Chaney (died), American actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1883)
1935 Geraldine Ferraro (born), American lawyer and politician (died 2011)
1944 Maureen Tucker (born), American singer-songwriter and drummer (The Velvet Underground)
1944 World War II: Charles de Gaulle enters Paris.
1949 Leon Redbone (born), American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1952 Will Shortz (born), American puzzle creator and editor
1954 Tracy Krohn (born), American businessman
1958 Ralph Vaughan Williams (died), English composer (born 1872)
1970 Melissa McCarthy (born), American actress, screenwriter, and producer
1970 The then new feminist movement, led by Betty Friedan, leads a nation-wide Women’s Strike for Equality.
1974 Charles Lindbergh (died), American pilot and explorer (born 1902)
1977 The Charter of the French Language is adopted by the National Assembly of Quebec
1978 Sigmund Jähn becomes first German cosmonaut, on board Soyuz 31.
1980 Macaulay Culkin (born), American actor
1981 Roger Nash Baldwin (died), American union leader, co-founded the American Civil Liberties Union (born 1884)
1986 Ted Knight (died), American actor (born 1923)
1989 Irving Stone (died), American author (born 1903)
2009 Dominick Dunne (died), American journalist (born 1925)
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
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