1378 Joanna of Bourbon (died) (born 1338)
1515 Aldus Manutius (died), Italian publisher, founded the Aldine Press (born 1449)
1582 Mario Bettinus (born), Italian philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer (died 1657)
1612 Antoine Arnauld (born), French theologian, philosopher, and mathematician (died 1694)
1617 Prospero Alpini (died), Italian physician and botanist (born 1553)
1639 Daniel Georg Morhof (born), German author and scholar (died 1691)
1649 The claimant King Charles II of England and Scotland is declared King of Great Britain, by the Parliament of Scotland. This move was not followed by the Parliament of England nor the Parliament of Ireland.
1664 Mustafa II (born), Ottoman sultan (died 1703)
1665 Anne (born), Queen of Great Britain (died 1714)
1685 Charles II of England (died) (born 1630)
1685 James II of England and VII of Scotland becomes King upon the death of his brother Charles II.
1695 Nicolaus II Bernoulli (born), Swiss mathematician (died 1726)
1726 Patrick Russell (born), Scottish surgeon (died 1805)
1756 Aaron Burr (born), American politician, 3rd Vice President of the United States (died 1836)
1778 American Revolutionary War: In Paris the Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce are signed by the United States and France signaling official recognition of the new republic.
1788 Massachusetts becomes the sixth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
1796 John Stevens Henslow (born), English botanist and geologist (died 1861)
1802 Charles Wheatstone (born), English physicist (died 1875)
1811 Henry Liddell (born), English academic and author (died 1898)
1815 New Jersey grants the first American railroad charter to John Stevens.
1819 Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founds Singapore.
1820 The first 86 African American immigrants sponsored by the American Colonization Society depart New York to start a settlement in present-day Liberia.
1830 Daniel Oliver (born), English botanist (died 1916)
1833 J.E.B. Stuart (born), American army officer (died 1864)
1833 Otto becomes the first modern King of Greece.
1833 Pierre André Latreille (died), French entomologist (born 1762)
1834 Edwin Klebs (born), German-Swiss pathologist (died 1913)
1840 Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, establishing New Zealand as a British colony.
1843 Frederic William Henry Myers (born), English poet and philologist, co-founded the Society for Psychical Research (died 1901)
1843 The first minstrel show in the United States, The Virginia Minstrels, opens (Bowery Amphitheatre in New York City).
1851 The largest Australian bushfires in a populous region in recorded history take place in the state of Victoria.
1852 C. Lloyd Morgan (born), English zoologist and psychologist (died 1936)
1862 The U.S. Navy gives the Union its first victory of the war, capturing Fort Henry, Tennessee in the Battle of Fort Henry.
1864 John Henry Mackay (born), Scottish-German philosopher and author (died 1933)
1866 Karl Sapper (born), German linguist and explorer (died 1945)
1876 Henry Blogg (born), English fisherman and lifeboat man (died 1954)
1878 Walter B. Pitkin (born), American educator (died 1953)
1879 Othon Friesz (born), French painter (died 1949)
1892 William Parry Murphy (born), American physician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1987)
1895 Babe Ruth (born), American baseball player (died 1948)
1899 The Treaty of Paris, a peace treaty between the United States and Spain, is ratified by the United States Senate.
1911 Ronald Reagan (born), American actor and politician, 40th President of the United States (died 2004)
1912 Eva Braun (born), German wife of Adolf Hitler (died 1945)
1913 Mary Leakey (born), English anthropologist (died 1996)
1917 Zsa Zsa Gabor (born), Hungarian-American actress
1918 British women over the age of 30 get the right to vote.
1929 Colin Murdoch (born), New Zealand pharmacist, invented the tranquilliser gun (died 2008)
1931 Mamie Van Doren (born), American actress and singer
1931 Rip Torn (born), American actor
1932 François Truffaut (born), French actor, director, screenwriter, and producer (died 1984)
1932 Heinz-Klaus Metzger (born), German critic and theorist (died 2009)
1934 Far right leagues rally in front of the Palais Bourbon in an attempted coup against the French Third Republic, creating a political crisis in France.
1942 Sarah Brady (born), American activist
1942 World War II: The United Kingdom declares war on Thailand.
1945 Bob Marley (born), Jamaican-American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Bob Marley & The Wailers) (died 1981)
1946 Kate McGarrigle (born), Canadian singer-songwriter and accordion player (Kate and Anna McGarrigle and Mountain City Four) (died 2010)
1946 Richie Hayward (born), American drummer and songwriter (Little Feat and Fraternity of Man) (died 2010)
1950 Natalie Cole (born), American singer-songwriter and actress
1951 The Broker, a Pennsylvania Railroad passenger train derails near Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. The accident kills 85 people and injures over 500 more. The wreck is one of the worst rail disasters in American history.
1952 Elizabeth II becomes the first queen regnant of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth Realms since Queen Victoria upon the death of her father, George VI. At the exact moment of succession, she was in a treehouse at the Treetops Hotel in Kenya.
1958 Eight Manchester United F.C. players and 15 other passengers are killed in the Munich air disaster.
1959 At Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first successful test firing of a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile is accomplished.
1959 Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments files the first patent for an integrated circuit.
1962 Axl Rose (born), American singer-songwriter and producer (Guns N’ Roses, Hollywood Rose, and Rapidfire)
1976 In testimony before a United States Senate subcommittee, Lockheed Corporation president Carl Kotchian admits that the company had paid out approximately $3 million in bribes to the office of Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka.
1978 The Blizzard of 1978, one of the worst Nor’easters in New England history, hit the region, with sustained winds of 65 mph and snowfall of 4″ an hour.
1981 Hugo Montenegro (died), American composer and conductor (born 1925)
1983 Jamie Whincup (born), Australian race car driver
1989 The Round Table Talks start in Poland, thus marking the beginning of overthrow of communism in Eastern Europe.
1991 Danny Thomas (died), American singer, actor, and producer (born 1914)
1993 Arthur Ashe (died), American tennis player (born 1943)
1994 Joseph Cotten (died), American actor (born 1905)
1996 Willamette Valley Flood of 1996: Floods in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, United States, causes over US$500 million in property damage throughout the Pacific Northwest.
1998 Carl Wilson (died), American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Beach Boys) (born 1946)
1998 Washington National Airport is renamed Ronald Reagan National Airport.
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