1423 Georg von Peuerbach (born), German mathematician and astronomer (died 1461)
1431 Hundred Years’ War: in Rouen, France, the 19-year-old Joan of Arc (born 1412) is burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal. The Catholic Church remembers this day as the celebration of Saint Joan of Arc.
1536 King Henry VIII of England marries Jane Seymour, a lady-in-waiting to his first two wives.
1539 In Florida, Hernando de Soto lands at Tampa Bay with 600 soldiers with the goal of finding gold.
1574 Henry III becomes King of France.
1588 The last ship of the Spanish Armada sets sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel.
1593 Christopher Marlowe (died), English poet and playwright (born 1564)
1631 Publication of La Gazette, the first French newspaper.
1640 Peter Paul Rubens (died), Flemish painter (born 1577)
1718 Arnold van Keppel (died), 1st Earl of Albemarle, Dutch-English general (born 1670)
1744 Alexander Pope (died), English poet (born 1688)
1768 Georg Amadeus Carl Friedrich Naumann (born), German mineralogist and geologist (died 1873)
1770 François Boucher (died), French painter (born 1703)
1778 Voltaire (died), French philosopher and author (born 1694)
1806 Andrew Jackson kills Charles Dickinson in a duel after Dickinson had accused Jackson’s wife of bigamy.
1814 Eugène Charles Catalan (born), Belgian-French mathematician (died 1894)
1814 Napoleonic Wars: War of the Sixth Coalition the Treaty of Paris (1814) is signed returning French borders to their 1792 extent. Napoleon I is exiled to Elba.
1834 Joaquim António de Aguiar issues a law extinguishing “all convents, monasteries, colleges, hospices and any other houses of the regular religious orders”, earning him the nickname of “The Friar-Killer”.
1842 John Francis attempts to murder Queen Victoria as she drives down Constitution Hill in London with Prince Albert.
1846 Peter Carl Fabergé (born), Russian goldsmith and jeweler (died 1920)
1868 Decoration Day (the predecessor of the modern “Memorial Day”) is observed in the United States for the first time (by “Commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic” John A. Logan’s proclamation on May 5).
1874 Ernest Duchesne (born), French physician (died 1912)
1883 In New York City, a rumor that the Brooklyn Bridge is going to collapse causes a stampede that crushes twelve people.
1896 Howard Hawks (born), American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1977)
1899 Pearl Hart, a female outlaw of the Old West, robs a stage coach 30 miles southeast of Globe, Arizona.
1901 Cornelia Otis Skinner (born), American actress and author (died 1979)
1907 Germaine Tillion (born), French anthropologist (died 2008)
1908 Mel Blanc (born), American voice actor and singer (died 1989)
1909 Benny Goodman (born), American clarinet player, songwriter, and bandleader (died 1986)
1911 At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the first Indianapolis 500 ends with Ray Harroun in his Marmon Wasp winning the 500-mile auto race.
1911 Milton Bradley (died), American businessman, founded the Milton Bradley Company (born 1836)
1912 Julius Axelrod (born), American biochemist and Nobel Prize laureate (died 2004)
1912 Wilbur Wright (died), American pilot, inventor, and businessman, co-founded the Wright Company (born 1867)
1914 The new, and then the largest, Cunard ocean liner RMS Aquitania, 45,647 tons, sails on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England, to New York, New York.
1922 The Lincoln Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C.
1926 Christine Jorgensen (born), American transgender (died 1989)
1927 Clint Walker (born), American actor
1936 Keir Dullea (born), American actor
1944 Lenny Davidson (born), English guitarist (The Dave Clark Five)
1947 Georg Johannes von Trapp (died), Croatian-Austrian captain (born 1880)
1958 Memorial Day: the remains of two unidentified American servicemen, killed in action during World War II and the Korean War respectively, are buried at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.
1960 Boris Pasternak (died), Russian poet and author, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1890)
1961 Rafael Trujillo (died), Dominican politician, 36th President of the Dominican Republic (born 1891)
1961 The long-time Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo is assassinated in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
1964 Eddie Sachs (died), American race car driver (born 1927)
1964 Wynonna Judd (born), American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Judds)
1966 Launch of Surveyor 1 the first US spacecraft to land on an extraterrestrial body.
1968 Zacarias Moussaoui (born), French terrorist
1971 Marcel Dupré (died), French organist and composer (born 1886)
1972 In Tel Aviv, Israel, members of the Japanese Red Army carry out the Lod Airport massacre, killing 24 people and injuring 78 others.
1975 Steve Prefontaine (died), American runner (born 1951)
1986 Perry Ellis (died), American fashion designer (born 1940)
1989 Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: the 33-foot high “Goddess of Democracy” statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators.
1998 Nuclear Testing: Pakistan conducts an underground test in the Kharan Desert. It is reported to be a plutonium device with yield of 20kt.
2012 The former Liberian president, Charles Taylor, is sentenced to 50 years in prison for his role in atrocities committed during the Sierra Leone Civil War.
2013 Nigeria passes a law banning same-sex marriage.
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
- Patriotism - 4 July, 2017
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- Alternative Facts and Science - 24 January, 2017