1066 William the Conqueror and his army set sail from the mouth of the Somme River, beginning the Norman Conquest of England.
1389 Cosimo de’ Medici (born), Italian ruler (died 1464)
1422 After the brief Gollub War the Teutonic Knights sign the Treaty of Melno with the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania
1529 The Siege of Vienna begins when Suleiman I attacks the city.
1540 The Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) receives its charter from Pope Paul III.
1590 Pope Urban VII dies 13 days after being chosen as the Pope, making his reign the shortest papacy in history (born 1521).
1601 Louis XIII of France (born) (died 1643)
1615 Lady Arbella Stuart (died), English wife of William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset (born 1575)
1660 Vincent de Paul (died), French priest and saint (born 1581)
1700 Pope Innocent XII (died) (born 1615)
1719 Abraham Gotthelf Kästner (born), German mathematician and epigrammatist (died 1800)
1722 Samuel Adams (born), American politician, 4th Governor of Massachusetts (died 1803)
1729 Michael Denis (born), Austrian lepidopterist, author, and poet (died 1800)
1735 Peter Artedi (died), Swedish ichthyologist (born 1705)
1777 Lancaster, Pennsylvania is the capital of the United States, for one day.
1805 George Müller (born), German-English evangelist and missionary, founded the Ashley Down Orphanage (died 1898)
1818 Hermann Kolbe (born), German chemist (died 1884)
1821 Henri-Frédéric Amiel (born), Swiss philosopher, poet, and critic (died 1881)
1821 Mexico gains its independence from Spain.
1822 Jean-François Champollion announces that he has deciphered the Rosetta stone.
1825 The world’s first public railway to use steam locomotives, the Stockton and Darlington Railway, is ceremonially opened.
1832 Karl Christian Friedrich Krause (died), German philosopher (born 1781)
1840 Thomas Nast (born), German-American cartoonist (died 1902)
1842 Alphonse François Renard (born), Belgian geologist and petrographer (died 1903)
1843 Gaston Tarry (born), French mathematician (died 1913)
1879 Cyril Scott (born), English poet and composer (died 1970)
1879 Frederick Schule (born), American hurdler and coach (died 1962)
1879 Hans Hahn (born), Austrian mathematician and philosopher (died 1934)
1885 Harry Blackstone, Sr. (born), American magician (died 1965)
1886 Charles Gordon Greene (died), American journalist (born 1804)
1894 Lothar von Richthofen (born), German pilot (died 1922)
1896 Sam Ervin (born), American politician (died 1985)
1903 Wreck of the Old 97, a train crash made famous by the song of the same name.
1905 The physics journal Annalen der Physik received Albert Einstein’s paper “Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?”, introducing the equation E=mc².
1907 Maurice Blanchot (born), French philosopher and theorist (died 2003)
1908 The first production of the Ford Model T automobile was built at the Piquette Plant in Detroit, Michigan.
1913 Albert Ellis (born), American psychologist (died 2007)
1917 Edgar Degas (died), French painter (born 1834)
1919 Charles H. Percy (born), American lieutenant and politician (died 2011)
1919 James H. Wilkinson (born), American mathematician (died 1986)
1920 Jayne Meadows (born), American actress and author
1920 William Conrad (born), American actor, director, and producer (died 1994)
1921 Miklós Jancsó (born), Hungarian director and screenwriter (died 2014)
1922 Arthur Penn (born), American director and producer (died 2010)
1924 Bud Powell (born), American pianist (died 1966)
1924 Ernest Becker (born), American anthropologist (died 1974)
1924 Fred Singer (born), Austrian-American physicist
1928 The Republic of China is recognized by the United States.
1929 Barbara Murray (born), English actress
1929 Bruno Junk (born), Estonian race walker (died 1995)
1929 Calvin Jones (born), American pianist, composer, and educator (died 2004)
1930 Bobby Jones wins the U.S. Amateur Championship to complete the Grand Slam of golf. The old structure of the grand slam was the U.S. Open, British Open, U.S. Amateur, and British Amateur.
1933 Greg Morris (born), American actor (died 1996)
1934 Wilford Brimley (born), American actor
1937 Balinese Tiger declared extinct.
1938 Ocean liner Queen Elizabeth launched in Glasgow.
1940 Walter Benjamin (died), German philosopher and critic (born 1892)
1941 Don Nix (born), American saxophonist, songwriter, and producer (The Mar-Keys)
1941 The SS Patrick Henry is launched becoming the first of more than 2,700 Liberty ships.
1943 Randy Bachman (born), Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Guess Who, Ironhorse, Bachman–Turner Overdrive, Bachman & Turner, and Brave Belt)
1947 Meat Loaf (born), American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
1949 The first Plenary Session of the National People’s Congress approves the design of the Flag of the People’s Republic of China.
1953 Greg Ham (born), Australian keyboard player, saxophonist, songwriter, and actor (Men at Work) (died 2012)
1954 The nationwide debut of Tonight Starring Steve Allen (The Tonight Show) hosted by Steve Allen on NBC.
1956 Babe Didrikson Zaharias (died), American basketball player and golfer (born 1911)
1960 Sylvia Pankhurst (died), English activist (born 1882)
1961 Sierra Leone joins the United Nations.
1962 The Yemen Arab Republic is established.
1964 Stephan Jenkins (born), American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Third Eye Blind)
1966 Debbie Wasserman Schultz (born), American politician
1968 Patrick Muldoon (born), American actor, singer, and guitarist
1968 The stage musical Hair opens at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, where it played 1,998 performances until its closure was forced by the roof collapsing in July 1973.
1969 Sofia Milos (born), Swiss-American actress
1972 Gwyneth Paltrow (born), American actress and singer
1979 Jimmy McCulloch (died), Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (One in a Million, Small Faces, Wings, Thunderclap Newman, and The Dukes) (born 1953)
1979 The United States Department of Education receives final approval from the U.S. Congress to become the 13th US Cabinet agency.
1981 Robert Montgomery (died), American actor, singer, director, and producer (born 1904)
1983 Richard Stallman announces the GNU project to develop a free Unix-like operating system.
1986 Cliff Burton (died), American bass player and songwriter (Metallica, EZ-Street, and Trauma) (born 1962)
1991 Oona O’Neill (died), English-Swiss wife of Charlie Chaplin, daughter of playwright Eugene O’Neill and writer Agnes Boulton (born 1926)
1993 Jimmy Doolittle (died), American general, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1896)
1996 In Afghanistan, the Taliban capture the capital city Kabul after driving out President Burhanuddin Rabbani and executing former leader Mohammad Najibullah.
1998 The Google internet search engine retrospectively claims this as its birthday.
2001 Zug, Switzerland, Friedrich Leibacher shoots 18 citizens, killing 14 and then himself.
2003 Donald O’Connor (died), American actor, singer, and dancer (born 1925)
2004 John E. Mack (died), American psychiatrist and author (born 1929)
2005 After 162 episodes, Tom and Jerry airs its final episode titled, The Karate Guard.
2007 NASA launches the Dawn probe.
2008 CNSA astronaut Zhai Zhigang becomes the first Chinese person to perform a spacewalk while flying on Shenzhou 7.
2009 Charles Houston (died), American physician and mountaineer (born 1913)
2009 William Safire (died), American author and journalist (born 1929)
2010 George Blanda (died), American football player (born 1927)
2011 Johnny “Country” Mathis (died), American singer-songwriter (Jimmy & Johnny) (born 1933)
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