975 Edgar the Peaceful (died), English king (born 943)
1099 First Crusade: 15,000 starving Christian soldiers march in a religious procession around Jerusalem as its Muslim defenders look on.
1497 Vasco da Gama sets sail on the first direct European voyage to India.
1538 Diego de Almagro (died), Spanish explorer (born 1475)
1579 Our Lady of Kazan, a holy icon of the Russian Orthodox Church, is discovered underground in the city of Kazan, Tatarstan.
1604 Heinrich Albert (born), German composer and poet (died 1651)
1623 Pope Gregory XV (died) (born 1554)
1663 Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal charter to Rhode Island.
1689 Edward Wooster (died), English-American settler (born 1622)
1695 Christiaan Huygens (died), Dutch mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (born 1629)
1721 Elihu Yale (died), American-English merchant and philanthropist (born 1649)
1726 John Ker (died), Scottish spy (born 1673)
1730 An estimated magnitude 8.7 earthquake causes a tsunami that damages more than 1,000 km (620 mi) of Chile’s coastline.
1760 Christian Kramp (born), French mathematician (died 1826)
1775 The Olive Branch Petition is signed by the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies.
1784 Torbern Bergman (died), Swedish chemist and mineralogist (born 1735)
1794 Richard Mique (died), French architect (born 1728)
1822 Chippewas turn over a huge tract of land in Ontario to the United Kingdom.
1822 Percy Bysshe Shelley (died), English poet (born 1792)
1830 Frederick W. Seward (born), American lawyer and politician, 6th United States Assistant Secretary of State (died 1915)
1831 John Pemberton (born), American chemist, invented Coca-Cola (died 1888)
1836 Joseph Chamberlain (born), English politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (died 1914)
1838 Ferdinand von Zeppelin (born), German general and businessman, founded the Zeppelin Airship Company (died 1917)
1839 John D. Rockefeller (born), American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Standard Oil Company (died 1937)
1851 Arthur Evans (born), English archaeologist (died 1941)
1853 U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry arrives in Edo bay with a treaty requesting trade.
1857 Alfred Binet (born), French psychologist (died 1911)
1879 Sailing ship USS Jeannette departs San Francisco carrying an ill-fated expedition to the North Pole.
1882 Percy Grainger (born), Australian-American pianist and composer (died 1961)
1885 Ernst Bloch (born), German philosopher (died 1977)
1889 The first issue of The Wall Street Journal is published.
1898 The death of crime boss Soapy Smith(born 1860), killed in the Shootout on Juneau Wharf, releases Skagway, Alaska from his iron grip.
1905 Walter Kittredge (died), American violinist and composer (born 1834)
1906 Philip Johnson (born), American architect, designed the IDS Center and PPG Place (died 2005)
1907 George W. Romney (born), American businessman and politician, 43rd Governor of Michigan (died 1995)
1908 Nelson Rockefeller (born), American politician, 41st Vice President of the United States (died 1979)
1914 Billy Eckstine (born), American singer and trumpet player (died 1993)
1917 Faye Emerson (born), American actress (died 1983)
1918 Craig Stevens (born), American actor (died 2000)
1930 Jerry Vale (born), American singer and actor (died 2014)
1931 Roone Arledge (born), American sportscaster (died 2002)
1932 The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, closing at 41.22.
1935 Steve Lawrence (born), American singer and actor (Steve and Eydie)
1939 Havelock Ellis (died), English physician (born 1859)
1947 Reports are broadcast that a UFO crash landed in Roswell, New Mexico.
1948 The United States Air Force accepts its first female recruits into a program called Women in the Air Force (WAF).
1949 Wolfgang Puck (born), Austrian chef and actor
1952 Anna Quindlen (born), American journalist and author
1957 Aleksandr Gurnov (born), Russian journalist and author
1957 Carlos Cavazo (born), Mexican-American guitarist and songwriter (Quiet Riot and Ratt)
1957 Grace Coolidge (died), American wife of Calvin Coolidge, 37th First Lady of the United States (born 1879)
1958 Kevin Bacon (born), American actor and singer (The Bacon Brothers)
1960 Francis Gary Powers is charged with espionage resulting from his flight over the Soviet Union.
1961 Andrew Fletcher (born), English keyboard player (Depeche Mode)
1962 Joan Osborne (born), American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Dead and Trigger Hippy)
1970 Richard Nixon delivers a special congressional message enunciating Native American self-determination as official US Indian policy, leading to the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975.
1979 Michael Wilding (died), English actor (born 1912)
1982 Assassination attempt against Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in Dujail.
1990 Howard Duff (died), American actor, director, and producer (born 1913)
1991 James Franciscus (died), American actor and producer (born 1934)
1994 Kim Il-sung (died), North Korean commander and politician, President of North Korea (born 1912)
1994 Kim Jong-il assumes supreme leadership of North Korea upon the death of his father, Kim Il-sung.
1994 Lars-Eric Lindblad (died), Swedish-American businessman and explorer (born 1927)
1999 Pete Conrad (died), American captain, pilot, and astronaut (born 1930)
2006 June Allyson (died), American actress and singer (born 1917)
2011 Betty Ford (died), American wife of Gerald Ford, 40th First Lady of the United States (born 1918)
2011 Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle program.
2012 Ernest Borgnine (died), American actor (born 1917)
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