922 Mansur Al-Hallaj (died), Persian mystic and poet (born 858)
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.
1535 Georg Tannstetter (died), Austrian mathematician, astronomer, and cartographer (born 1482)
1636 Utrecht University is founded in the Netherlands.
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)
1814 Charles Mackay (born), Scottish poet, journalist, author and anthologist (died 1889)
1814 Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (died), French physician (born 1738)
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)
1868 Fuad I of Egypt (born) (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)
1881 Guccio Gucci (born), Italian fashion designer, founded Gucci (died 1953)
1892 Walt Whitman (died), American poet and author (born 1819)
1898 Rudolf Dassler (born), German businessman, founded Puma SE (died 1974)
1906 Rafael Méndez (born), Mexican trumpet player (died 1981)
1911 J. L. Austin (born), English philosopher (died 1960)
1911 Tennessee Williams (born), American playwright, author, and poet (died 1983)
1913 Paul Erdős (born), Hungarian mathematician (died 1996)
1915 Hwang Sun-won (born), North Korean author and poet (died 2000)
1915 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.
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)
1964 Martin Donnelly (born), Irish race car driver
1964 Todd Barry (born), American comedian and actor
1966 Michael Imperioli (born), American actor and screenwriter
1966 Nick Wirth (born), English engineer, founded Wirth Research
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 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.
1990 Halston (died), American fashion designer (born 1932)
1992 Barbara Frum (died), American-Canadian journalist (born 1937)
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)
1997 Thirty-nine bodies are found in the Heaven’s Gate cult suicides.
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