1464 Pope Paul II succeeds Pope Pius II as the 211th pope.
1483 Louis XI of France (died) (born 1423)
1720 Samuel Whitbread (born), English brewer and politician, founded Whitbread (died 1796)
1748 Jacques-Louis David (born), French painter (died 1825)
1791 HMS Pandora sinks after having run aground on a reef the previous day.
1797 Mary Shelley (born), English author and playwright (died 1851)
1800 Gabriel Prosser postpones a planned slave rebellion in Richmond, Virginia, but is arrested before he can make it happen.
1812 Agoston Haraszthy (born), Hungarian-American businessman, founded Buena Vista Winery (died 1869)
1813 Creek War – Fort Mims massacre: Creek “Red Sticks” kill over 500 settlers (including over 250 armed militia) in Fort Mims, north of Mobile, Alabama.
1821 Anita Garibaldi (born), Brazilian wife of Giuseppe Garibaldi (died 1849)
1835 Melbourne is founded.
1836 The city of Houston is founded by Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen
1852 Jacobus Henricus van ‘t Hoff (born), Dutch chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1911)
1856 Carl David Tolmé Runge (born), German mathematician, physicist, and spectroscopist (died 1927)
1860 Isaac Levitan (born), Russian painter (died 1900)
1862 American Civil War – Battle of Richmond: Confederates under Edmund Kirby Smith rout Union forces under General Horatio Wright.
1871 Ernest Rutherford (born), New Zealand-English physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1937)
1893 Huey Long (born), American lawyer and politician, 40th Governor of Louisiana (died 1935)
1894 Erik von Holst (born), Estonian-German sailor (died 1962)
1896 Raymond Massey (born), Canadian-American actor and playwright (died 1983)
1898 Shirley Booth (born), American actress and singer (died 1992)
1906 Hans Auer (died), Swiss-Austrian architect, designed the Federal Palace of Switzerland (born 1847)
1906 Joan Blondell (born), American actress and singer (died 1979)
1908 Fred MacMurray (born), American actor and singer (died 1991)
1909 Burgess Shale fossils are discovered by Charles Doolittle Walcott.
1918 Ted Williams (born), American baseball player and manager (died 2002)
1924 Geoffrey Beene (born), American fashion designer (died 2004)
1930 Warren Buffett (born), American businessman and philanthropist
1935 John Phillips (born), American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Mamas & the Papas) (died 2001)
1937 Bruce McLaren (born), New Zealand race car driver, founded the McLaren racing team (died 1970)
1938 Max Factor, Sr. (died), Polish-American make-up artist and businessman, founded the Max Factor Company (born 1877)
1943 Jean-Claude Killy (born), French skier
1945 Hong Kong is liberated from Japan by British Armed Forces.
1945 The Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Douglas MacArthur lands at Atsugi Air Force Base.
1946 Peggy Lipton (born), American model and actress
1956 The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway opens.
1962 Japan conducts a test of the NAMC YS-11, its first aircraft since World War II and its only successful commercial aircraft from before or after the war.
1963 The Hotline between the leaders of the U.S.A. and the Soviet Union goes into operation.
1967 Thurgood Marshall is confirmed as the first African American Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
1971 Lars Frederiksen (born), American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Rancid, Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards, and UK Subs)
1972 Cameron Diaz (born), American model and actress
1982 Andy Roddick (born), American tennis player
1984 STS-41-D: The Space Shuttle Discovery takes off on its maiden voyage.
1985 Taylor Caldwell (died), English-American author (born 1900)
1995 NATO launches Operation Deliberate Force against Bosnian Serb forces.
1995 Sterling Morrison (died), American guitarist and singer (The Velvet Underground) (born 1942)
2003 Charles Bronson (died), American actor (born 1921)
2003 Donald Davidson (died), American philosopher (born 1917)
2004 Indian Larry (died), American motorcycle rider and stuntman (born 1949)
2006 Glenn Ford (died), Canadian-American actor (born 1916)
2013 Seamus Heaney (died), Irish poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1939)
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