1566 – Nostradamus, [Michel de Nostre-Dam], French astrologist, dies at 62
1613 – The first English expedition from Massachusetts against Acadia led by Samuel Argall takes place.
1679 – Europeans first visit Minnesota and see headwaters of Mississippi in an expedition led by Daniel Greysolon de Du Luth.
1698 – Thomas Savery patents the first steam engine.
1776 – The Continental Congress adopts a resolution severing ties with the Kingdom of Great Britain although the wording of the formal Declaration of Independence is not approved until July 4. (“these United Colonies are & of right ought to be Free & Independent States”)
1776 – NJ Jersey gives the right to vote to all adults who could show a net worth of 50 pounds
1787 – Marquis De Sade shouts from Bastille that prisoners are being slaughtered
1777 – Vermont becomes the first American territory to abolish slavery.
1822 – 35 African American slaves are hanged in South Carolina, including Denmark Vesey, after being accused of organizing a slave rebellion.
1839 – Twenty miles off the coast of Cuba, 53 rebelling African slaves led by Joseph Cinqué take over the slave ship Amistad.
1877 – Hermann Hesse, Switzerland, novelist/poet (Steppenwolf, Nobel 1946), (d.1962) Born
1881 – Charles J. Guiteau (allegedly) shoots and fatally wounds U.S. President James Garfield, who eventually dies from an infection on September 19.
1890 – The U.S. Congress passes the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
1897 – Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi obtains a patent for radio in London.
1900 – The first Zeppelin flight takes place on Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen, Germany.
1901 – Butch Cassidy & Sundance Kid rob train of $40,000 at Wagner, Montana
1908 – Thurgood Marshall, Baltimore Maryland, 1st black Supreme Court justice (1967-91), (d. 1993) Born
1916 – Barry Gray, [Bernard Yaroslaw], interviewer (started call-in radio) Born
1917 – The East St. Louis Riots end.
1921 – World War I: U.S. President Warren G. Harding signs the Knox-Porter Resolution formally ending the war between the United States and Imperial Germany.
1923 – Wislawa Szymborska, Prowent, Poland, poet referred to as the ‘Mozart of Poetry’ (Nobel 1996), (d. 2012) Born
1925 – Medgar Evers, American activist (d. 1963) was born.
1932 – Dave Thomas, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Wendy’s (d. 2002) was born.
1934 – The Night of the Long Knives ends with the death of Ernst Röhm. Adolf Hitler conducts a purge of traitors in the Nazi party . Hundreds of people were executed after undergoing a 3 minute trial to face the charges of being traitors. Hitler seemingly secured his power in the nation by forcing the power from the conservatives. Vice Chancellor von Papen, a conservative and critic of Nazi policies, was set to resign the next day.
1937 – Richard Petty, American race car driver was born.
1937 – Amelia Earhart (40) and navigator Fred Noonan are last heard from over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first equatorial round-the-world flight.
1939 – Paul Williams, American singer and choreographer (The Temptations) (d. 1973) was born.
1940 – Hitler orders invasion of Britain (Operation Sealion)
1940 – Lake Washington (Seattle) Floating bridge dedicated
1942 – Vicente Fox, Mexican politician, 35th President of Mexico was born.
1947 – Larry David, Brooklyn NY, actor/comedian/writer (Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm) Born
1956 – Jerry Hall, Mesquite Tx, model/Mrs Mick Jagger (Batman, Freejack)Born
1956 – Elvis Presley records “Hound Dog” & “Don’t Be Cruel”
1961 – Ernest Hemingway, American author and Nobel laureate, dies from suicide at 61
1962 – The first Wal-Mart store opens for business in Rogers, Arkansas.
1964 – Andrea Yates, American murderer was born.
1964 – Dave Parsons, rocker Bassist (Transvision Vamp, Sham 69, Bush)Born
BORN:
1964 – Jose Canseco, Havana Cuba, outfielder (Oak A’s, Red Sox, 1988 AL MVP)
1964 – Ozzie Canseco, Cuban-born American baseball player
1964 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 meant to prohibit segregation in public places.
1972 – Joseph F Smith Jr, leader US Mormon chuch, dies at 95
1973 – Betty Grable, US actress (How to Marry a Millionaire), dies at 56
1973 – Nation Black Network begins operation on radio
1976 – Fall of the Republic of Vietnam; Communist North Vietnam declares their union to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
1977 – Vladimir V Nabokov, Russian/US writer (Lolita), dies at 78
1979 – Susan B Anthony dollar is issued, 1st US coin to honor a woman
1980 – Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir & Mickey Hart are arrested for incitement
1982 – Larry Walters using lawn chair & 42 helium balloons, rose to 16,000′
1986 – General strike against Pinochet regime in Chile
1986 – US Supreme Court upholds affirmative action in 2 rulings
1991 – Riot at Guns N’ Roses concert in St Louis
1993 – Fred Gwynne, actor (Herman-Munsters), dies of pancreatic cancer at 66
1997 – Jimmy Stewart, actor (It’s a Wonderful Life), dies at 89
1999 – Mario Puzo, American author (the Godfather), dies at 78
2002 – Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly solo around the world nonstop in a balloon.
2003 – Silvio Berlusconi, Prime Minister of Italy, insults German MP Martin Schulz by calling him a “kapo” (Nazi guard)during a session of the European Parliament.
2005 – Live 8 concerts happen in members of the G8 cities around the world and South Africa to highlight the aims of the UK’s Make Poverty History campaign and the Global Call for Action Against Poverty, hoping to put pressure on the meeting of political leaders of the G8 countries. The Live 8 concerts are organised by Bob Geldof and a number of other well known pop icons. Unlike other earlier concerts to raise money for those starving these concerts were designed to highlight, educate and put pressure on the Leaders of the G8 countries to do more for the world’s poor. Even before the concerts some measure of success is gained when the G8 finance ministers agree to cancel the debt owed by 18 of the world’s poorest countries.