363 Julian, Roman emperor (died) (born 332)
699 En no Ozuno, a Japanese mystic and apothecary who will later be regarded as the founder of a folk religion Shugendō, is banished to Izu Ōshima.
1541 Francisco Pizarro (died), Spanish conquistador (born 1471)
1582 Johannes Schultz (born), German composer (died 1653)
1703 Thomas Clap (born), American minister and academic (died 1767)
1730 Charles Messier (born), French astronomer (died 1817)
1740 A combined force Spanish, free blacks and allied Indians defeat a British garrison at the Siege of Fort Mose near St. Augustine during the War of Jenkins’ Ear.
1793 Gilbert White (died), English ornithologist (born 1720)
1798 Wolfgang Menzel (born), German poet and critic (died 1873)
1810 Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (died), French inventor, co-invented the hot air balloon (born 1740)
1817 Branwell Brontë (born), English painter and poet (died 1848)
1819 Abner Doubleday (born), American general (died 1893)
1857 The first investiture of the Victoria Cross in Hyde Park, London.
1870 The Christian holiday of Christmas is declared a federal holiday in the United States.
1878 Mercedes of Orléans (died) (born 1860)
1883 Edward Sabine (died), Irish-English astronomer, geophysicist, and ornithologist (born 1788)
1886 Henri Moissan isolated elemental Fluorine for the first time.
1892 Pearl S. Buck (born), American author, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1973)
1898 Willy Messerschmitt (born), German engineer and businessman (died 1978)
1901 Stuart Symington (born), American lieutenant and politician (died 1988)
1904 Peter Lorre (born), Slovak-American actor (died 1964)
1906 The first Grand Prix motor racing event held (France).
1909 Colonel Tom Parker (born), Dutch-American talent manager (died 1997)
1909 The Science Museum in London comes into existence as an independent entity.
1911 Babe Didrikson Zaharias (born), American basketball player and golfer (died 1956)
1913 Aimé Césaire (born), French poet, author, and politician (died 2008)
1915 Paul Castellano (born), American mobster (died 1985)
1917 The first U.S. troops arrive in France to fight alongside Britain and France against Germany in World War I.
1922 Eleanor Parker (born), American actress
1922 Walter Farley (born), American author (died 1989)
1927 The Cyclone roller coaster opens on Coney Island.
1929 Fred Bruemmer (born), Canadian photographer and author
1931 Colin Wilson (born), English philosopher and author
1934 Dave Grusin (born), American pianist and composer
1934 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Federal Credit Union Act, which establishes credit unions.
1936 Edith Pearlman (born), American author
1936 Initial flight of the Focke-Wulf FW 61, the first practical helicopter.
1938 Billy Davis, Jr. (born), American singer (The 5th Dimension)
1941 Hiro Narita (born), Japanese-American cinematographer
1943 Georgie Fame (born), English singer and pianist (Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings)
1945 The United Nations Charter is signed in San Francisco.
1948 Shirley Jackson’s short story The Lottery is published in The New Yorker magazine.
1948 The Western allies begin an airlift to Berlin after the Soviet Union blockades West Berlin.
1948 William Shockley files the original patent for the grown junction transistor, the first bipolar junction transistor.
1955 Dick Mol (born), Dutch paleontologist
1955 Mick Jones (born), English singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Clash, Big Audio Dynamite, General Public, Carbon/Silicon, and London SS)
1956 Chris Isaak (born), American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1956 Clifford Brown (died), American trumpet player and composer (born 1930)
1959 The Saint Lawrence Seaway opens, opening North America’s Great Lakes to ocean-going ships.
1960 Madagascar gains its independence from France.
1960 The former British Protectorate of British Somaliland gains its independence as Somaliland.
1961 Greg LeMond (born), American cyclist
1963 Harriet Wheeler (born), English singer (The Sundays)
1963 U.S. President John F. Kennedy gave his “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech, underlining the support of the United States for democratic West Germany shortly after Soviet-supported East Germany erected the Berlin Wall.
1969 Colin Greenwood (born), English bass player and songwriter (Radiohead)
1970 Chris O’Donnell (born), American actor
1971 Max Biaggi (born), Italian motorcycle racer
1974 Derek Jeter (born), American baseball player
1974 The Universal Product Code is scanned for the first time to sell a package of Wrigley’s chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio
1975 Two FBI agents and a member of the American Indian Movement are killed in a shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota; Leonard Peltier is later convicted of the murders in a controversial trial.
1993 Roy Campanella (died), American baseball player (born 1921)
1993 William H. Riker (died) American political scientist (born 1920)
1997 The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the Communications Decency Act violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
2000 President Clinton announces the completion of the first survey of the entire human genome.
2003 Strom Thurmond (died), American general, lawyer, and politician, 103rd Governor of South Carolina (born 1902)
2003 The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Lawrence v. Texas that gender-based sodomy laws are unconstitutional.
2007 Liz Claiborne (died), Belgian-American fashion designer, founded Liz Claiborne (born 1929)
2012 Nora Ephron (died), American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1941)
2013 The U.S. Supreme Court rules that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
- Patriotism - 4 July, 2017
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- Alternative Facts and Science - 24 January, 2017