37 Roman Emperor Caligula accepts the title of the Principate, a title given to him by the Senate.
845 Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.
1584 Ivan the Terrible (died), Russian king (born 1530)
1613 Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang of China (born) (died 1688)
1621 Heinrich Schwemmer (born), German composer and educator (died 1696)
1687 Constantijn Huygens (died), Dutch poet and composer (born 1596)
1776 Juan Bautista de Anza finds the site for the Presidio of San Francisco.
1793 Henry Schoolcraft (born), American geographer, geologist, and ethnologist (died 1864)
1794 Marquis de Condorcet (died), French mathematician and philosopher (born 1743)
1802 Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers discovers 2 Pallas, the second asteroid known to man.
1836 Frederick Pabst (born), German-American brewer, founded the Pabst Brewing Company (died 1904)
1854 Crimean War: France and Britain declare war on Russia.
1862 American Civil War: Battle of Glorieta Pass – in New Mexico, Union forces stop the Confederate invasion of New Mexico territory. The battle began on March 26.
1865 Petrus Hofman Peerlkamp (died), Dutch scholar and critic (born 1786)
1866 Solomon Foot (died), American lawyer and politician (born 1802)
1868 Maxim Gorky (born), Russian author (died 1936)
1881 Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (died), Russian composer (born 1839)
1890 Paul Whiteman (born), American bandleader and composer (died 1967)
1893 Spyros Skouras (born), Greek-American businessman (died 1971)
1903 Rudolf Serkin (born), Czech-American pianist (died 1991)
1905 Marlin Perkins (born), American zoologist and television host (died 1986)
1910 Frederick Baldwin Adams, Jr. (born), American librarian (died 2001)
1910 Henri Fabre becomes the first person to fly a seaplane, the Fabre Hydravion, after taking off from a water runway near Martigues, France.
1914 Edmund Muskie (born), American politician, 58th United States Secretary of State (died 1996)
1914 Kenneth Richard Norris (born), Australian entomologist (died 2003)
1917 Claude Bertrand (born), Canadian surgeon
1921 Dirk Bogarde (born), English actor and author (died 1999)
1928 Zbigniew Brzezinski (born), Polish-American geostrategist and politician, 10th United States National Security Advisor
1930 Constantinople and Angora change their names to Istanbul and Ankara.
1933 The Imperial Airways biplane City of Liverpool is believed to be the first airline lost to sabotage when a passenger sets a fire on board.
1934 Lester R. Brown (born), American environmentalist, founded the Earth Policy Institute and Worldwatch Institute
1939 Spanish Civil War: Generalissimo Francisco Franco conquers Madrid after a three-year siege.
1941 Virginia Woolf (died), English author and critic (born 1882)
1942 Daniel Dennett (born), American philosopher
1942 World War II: In occupied France, British naval forces successfully raid the German-occupied port of St. Nazaire.
1943 Sergei Rachmaninoff (died), Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1873)
1944 Ken Howard (born), American actor
1944 Stephen Leacock (died), English-Canadian political scientist and author (born 1869)
1946 Cold War: The United States State Department releases the Acheson–Lilienthal Report, outlining a plan for the international control of nuclear power.
1948 John Evan (born), English keyboard player, songwriter, and producer (Jethro Tull)
1953 Jim Thorpe (died), American football player and coach (born 1887)
1955 Reba McEntire (born), American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1956 Susan Ershler (born), American mountaineer and author
1958 W. C. Handy (died), American trumpet player and composer (born 1873)
1959 The State Council of the People’s Republic of China dissolves the Government of Tibet.
1968 Brazilian high school student Edson Luís de Lima Souto is shot by the police in a protest for cheaper meals at a restaurant for low-income students. The aftermath of his death is one of the first major events against the military dictatorship.
1969 Dwight D. Eisenhower (died), American general and politician, 34th President of the United States (born 1890)
1969 The McGill français movement protest occurs, the second largest protest in Montreal’s history with 10,000 trade unionists, leftist activists, and McGill students at McGill’s Roddick Gates. The majority of the protesters are arrested.
1974 Arthur Crudup (died), American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1905)
1975 Kate Gosselin (born), American author
1977 Eric Shipton (died), Sri Lankan-English mountaineer (born 1907)
1978 The US Supreme Court hands down 5-3 decision in Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349, a controversial case involving involuntary sterilization and judicial immunity.
1979 A coolant leak at the Three Mile Island’s Unit 2 nuclear reactor outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania leads to the core overheating and a partial melt down.
1979 Emmett Kelly (died), American clown (born 1898)
1985 Marc Chagall (died), Russian painter (born 1887)
1986 Lady Gaga (born), American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1987 Maria von Trapp (died), Austrian-American singer (born 1905)
1990 President George H. W. Bush posthumously awards Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal.
2004 Peter Ustinov (died), English-Swiss actor, screenwriter, director, and producer (born 1921)
2006 At least 1 million union members, students, and unemployed take to the streets in France in protest at the government’s proposed First Employment Contract law.
2006 Caspar Weinberger (died), American politician, 15th United States Secretary of Defense (born 1917)
2009 Maurice Jarre (died), French-American composer and conductor (born 1924)
2012 Earl Scruggs (died), American banjo player (Foggy Mountain Boys) (born 1924)
2013 Robert Zildjian (died), American businessman, founded Sabian (born 1923)
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