1027 Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor.
1130 Sigurd the Crusader (died), Norwegian son of Magnus Barefoot (born 1090)
1169 Saladin becomes the emir of Egypt.
1344 The Siege of Algeciras, one of the first European military engagements where gunpowder was used, comes to an end.
1484 William Caxton prints his translation of Aesop’s Fables.
1516 Conrad Gessner (born), Swiss botanist and zoologist (died 1565)
1535 Georg Tannstetter (died), Austrian mathematician, astronomer, and cartographer (born 1482)
1636 Utrecht University is founded in the Netherlands.
1649 John Winthrop (died), English-American lawyer and politician, 2nd Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
1698 Prokop Diviš (born), Czech scientist, invented the lightning rod (died 1765)
1726 John Vanbrugh (died), English playwright and architect, designed Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard (born 1664)
1773 Nathaniel Bowditch (born), American mathematician and navigator (died 1838)
1793 John Mudge (died) English physician (born 1721)
1797 James Hutton (died), Scottish geologist and physician (born 1726)
1812 A political cartoon in the Boston Gazette coins the term “gerrymander” to describe oddly shaped electoral districts designed to help incumbents win reelection.
1812 An earthquake destroys Caracas, Venezuela.
1814 Charles Mackay (born), Scottish poet, journalist, author and anthologist (died 1889)
1827 Ludwig van Beethoven (died), German pianist and composer (born 1770)
1830 The Book of Mormon is published in Palmyra, New York.
1839 The first Henley Royal Regatta is held.
1845 Juhan Maaker (born), Estonian bagpipe player (died 1930)
1859 A. E. Housman (born), English poet and scholar (died 1936)
1874 Robert Frost (born), American poet and playwright (died 1963)
1875 Syngman Rhee (born), South Korean politician, 1st President of South Korea (died 1965)
1879 Othmar Ammann (born), Swiss-American engineer, designed the George Washington Bridge and Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (died 1965)
1879 Waldemar Tietgens (born), German rower (died 1917)
1885 Anson Stager (died), American general and businessman, co-founded Western Union (born 1825)
1892 Walt Whitman (died), American poet and author (born 1819)
1898 Rudolf Dassler (born), German businessman, founded Puma SE (died 1974)
1902 Cecil Rhodes (died), English-South African businessman and politician, 6th Prime Minister of the Cape Colony (born 1853)
1905 Viktor Frankl (born), Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist (died 1997)
1906 Rafael Méndez (born), Mexican trumpet player (died 1981)
1911 Tennessee Williams (born), American playwright, author, and poet (died 1983)
1913 Paul Erdős (born), Hungarian mathematician (died 1996)
1915 Ice Hockey: The Vancouver Millionaires sweep the Ottawa Senators three-games-to-none to win the 1915 Stanley Cup Finals, the first championship played between the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and the National Hockey Association.
1916 Harry Rabinowitz (born), South African-American composer and conductor
1917 World War I: First Battle of Gaza – British troops are halted after 17,000 Turks block their advance.
1923 Sarah Bernhardt (died), French actress (born 1844)
1927 Harold Chapman (born), English photographer
1929 Edwin Turney (born), American businessman, co-founded Advanced Micro Devices (died 2008)
1929 Katharine Lee Bates (died), American poet (born 1859)
1930 Sandra Day O’Connor (born), American jurist
1931 Leonard Nimoy (born), American actor, singer, and director
1931 SwissAir is founded as the national airline of Switzerland.
1933 Eddie Lang (died), American guitarist (born 1902)
1933 Vine Deloria, Jr. (born), American historian, author, and theologian (died 2005)
1934 Alan Arkin (born), American actor, singer, and director
1934 The driving test is introduced in the United Kingdom.
1935 Mahmoud Abbas (born), Palestinian politician, 2nd President of the State of Palestine
1940 James Caan (born), American actor
1940 Nancy Pelosi (born), American politician, 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
1941 Richard Dawkins (born), Kenyan-English biologist
1942 Erica Jong (born), American author and poet
1943 Bob Woodward (born), American journalist and author
1944 Diana Ross (born), American singer and actress (The Supremes)
1948 Richard Tandy (born), English keyboard player (Electric Light Orchestra)
1948 Steven Tyler (born), American singer-songwriter and actor (Aerosmith and Chain Reaction)
1949 Vicki Lawrence (born), American actress and singer
1950 Martin Short (born), Canadian-American actor, screenwriter, and producer
1950 Teddy Pendergrass (born), American singer-songwriter (Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes) (died 2010)
1952 Didier Pironi (born), French race car driver (died 1987)
1958 Elio de Angelis (born), Italian race car driver (died 1986)
1958 The United States Army launches Explorer 3.
1959 Raymond Chandler (died), American author and screenwriter (born 1888)
1966 Michael Imperioli (born), American actor and screenwriter
1966 Nick Wirth (born), English engineer, founded Wirth Research
1967 Ten thousand people gather for one of many Central Park be-ins in New York City
1968 James Iha (born), American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (The Smashing Pumpkins, A Perfect Circle, Whiskeytown, and Tinted Windows)
1968 Kenny Chesney (born), American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1971 Behzad Ghorbani (born), Iranian zoologist and planarialogist
1971 East Pakistan declares its independence from Pakistan to form the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Liberation War begins.
1973 Larry Page (born), American computer scientist, co-founded Google
1973 Noël Coward (died), English actor, director, composer, and playwright (born 1899)
1975 The Biological Weapons Convention comes into force.
1978 Four days before the scheduled opening of Japan’s Narita International Airport, a group of protestors destroys much of the equipment in the control tower with Molotov cocktails.
1979 Anwar al-Sadat, Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter sign the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty in Washington, DC.
1982 A groundbreaking ceremony for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is held in Washington, DC.
1983 Anthony Blunt (died), English historian and spy (born 1907)
1985 Keira Knightley (born), English actress
1990 Halston (died) American fashion designer (born 1932)
1991 Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay sign the Treaty of Asunción, establishing Mercosur, the South Common Market.
1991 Local self-government was revived in 3 decades in South Korea.
1996 David Packard (died), American engineer and businessman, co-founded Hewlett-Packard (born 1912)
1996 Edmund Muskie (died), American politician, 58th United States Secretary of State (born 1914)
1999 A jury in Michigan finds Dr. Jack Kevorkian guilty of second-degree murder for administering a lethal injection to a terminally ill man.
1999 The “Melissa worm” infects Microsoft word processing and e-mail systems around the world.
2000 Alex Comfort (died), English physician and author (born 1920)
2002 Randy Castillo (died), American drummer and songwriter (Red Square Black and Mötley Crüe) (born 1950)
2003 Daniel Patrick Moynihan (died), American sociologist and politician, 12th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (born 1927)
2011 Geraldine Ferraro (died), American lawyer and politician (born 1935)
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