1470 Charles VIII of France (born) (died 1498)
1520 Spanish conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés fight their way out of Tenochtitlan.
1559 King Henry II of France is mortally wounded in a jousting match against Gabriel de Montgomery.
1588 Giovanni Maria Sabino (born), Italian organist, composer, and educator (died 1649)
1785 James Oglethorpe (died), English general and politician, 1st Colonial Governor of Georgia (born 1696)
1789 Horace Vernet (born), French painter (died 1863)
1794 Native American forces under Blue Jacket attack Fort Recovery.
1805 The U.S. Congress organizes the Michigan Territory.
1807 Friedrich Theodor Vischer (born), German author, poet, and playwright (died1887)
1817 Joseph Dalton Hooker (born), English botanist (died 1911)
1859 French acrobat Charles Blondin crosses Niagara Falls on a tightrope.
1860 The 1860 Oxford evolution debate at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History takes place.
1864 U.S. President Abraham Lincoln grants Yosemite Valley to California for “public use, resort and recreation”.
1882 Alberto Henschel (died), German-Brazilian photographer and businessman (born 1827)
1882 Charles J. Guiteau is hanged in Washington, D.C. for the assassination of U.S. President James Garfield.
1884 Georges Duhamel (born), French author (died 1966)
1886 The first transcontinental train trip across Canada departs from Montreal. It arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia on July 4.
1891 Man Mountain Dean (born), American wrestler (died 1953)
1892 Bo Carter (born), American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Mississippi Sheiks) (died 1962)
1899 Harry Shields (born), American clarinet player (died 1971)
1905 Albert Einstein publishes the article On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies, in which he introduces special relativity.
1906 The United States Congress passes the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act.
1908 The Tunguska event occurs in remote Siberia.
1917 Lena Horne (born), American actress, singer, and dancer (died 2010)
1917 Susan Hayward (born), American actress and singer (died 1975)
1919 Ed Yost (born), American inventor, invented the hot air balloon (died 2007)
1921 U.S. President Warren G. Harding appoints former President William Howard Taft Chief Justice of the United States.
1930 Thomas Sowell (born), American economist, philosopher, and author
1934 Harry Blackstone, Jr. (born), American magician (died 1997)
1934 The Night of the Long Knives, Adolf Hitler’s violent purge of his political rivals in Germany, takes place.
1935 John Harlin (born), American pilot and mountaineer (died 1966)
1935 The Senegalese Socialist Party holds its first congress.
1936 Dave Van Ronk (born), American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2002)
1936 Emperor Haile Selassie of Abyssinia appeals for aid to the League of Nations against Italy’s invasion of his country.
1937 The world’s first emergency telephone number, 999, is introduced in London
1943 Florence Ballard (born), American singer (The Supremes) (died 1976)
1944 Glenn Shorrock (born), English-Australian singer-songwriter (Little River Band, The Twilights, Axiom, Esperanto, and Birtles Shorrock Goble)
1944 World War II: The Battle of Cherbourg ends with the fall of the strategically valuable port to American forces.
1953 Hal Lindes (born), American-English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Dire Straits)
1953 The first Chevrolet Corvette rolls off the assembly line in Flint, Michigan.
1960 Congo gains independence from Belgium.
1960 Murray Cook (born), Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Wiggles and Bang Shang a Lang)
1961 Lee De Forest (died), American inventor, invented the audion tube (born 1873)
1963 Ciaculli massacre: a car bomb, intended for Mafia boss Salvatore Greco, kills seven police officers and military personnel near Palermo.
1966 Giuseppe Farina (died), Italian race car driver (born 1906)
1966 Mike Tyson (born), American boxer and actor
1966 The National Organization for Women, the United States’ largest feminist organization, is founded.
1966 Wendy Davis (born), American actress
1969 Nigeria bans Red Cross aid to Biafra.
1971 Ohio ratifies the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, reducing the voting age to 18, thereby putting the amendment into effect.
1971 The crew of the Soviet Soyuz 11 spacecraft are killed when their air supply escapes through a faulty valve.
1972 James Martin (born), English chef
1972 The first leap second is added to the UTC time system.
1975 Ralf Schumacher (born), German race car driver
1979 Faisal Shahzad (born), Pakistani-American terrorist, attempted the Times Square bombing
1985 Michael Phelps (born), American swimmer
1985 Thirty-nine American hostages from the hijacked TWA Flight 847 are freed in Beirut after being held for 17 days.
1986 Allegra Versace (born), Italian-American businesswoman
1986 The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Bowers v. Hardwick that states can outlaw homosexual acts between consenting adults.
1987 The Royal Canadian Mint introduces the $1 coin, known as the Loonie.
1990 East Germany and West Germany merge their economies.
1991 Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, starts “The Great Gage Park Decency Drive” picketing the park, starting their notorious picketing campaign that would later include funerals of AIDS victims and fallen American military.
1997 The United Kingdom transfers sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China.
2001 Chet Atkins (died), American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (born 1924)
2003 Buddy Hackett (died), American actor (born 1924)
2003 Robert McCloskey (died), American author and illustrator (born 1915)
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