1456 – A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her death.
1520 – Spanish conquistadores defeat a larger Aztec army at the Battle of Otumba.
1534 – European colonization of the Americas: first known exchange between Europeans and natives of the Gulf of St. Lawrence in New Brunswick.
1575 – Raid of the Redeswire, the last major battle between England and Scotland.
1777 – American Revolutionary War: American forces retreating from Fort Ticonderoga are defeated in the Battle of Hubbardton.
1798 – Quasi-War: the U.S. Congress rescinds treaties with France sparking the “war”.
1834 – In New York City, four nights of rioting against abolitionists began.
1846 – Mexican–American War: American troops occupy Monterey and Yerba Buena, thus beginning the U.S. acquisition of California.
1863 – United States begins its first military draft; exemptions cost $300.
1865 – Mary Surratt, & 3 others ( Lewis Paine,
David Herold), Lincoln conspirators hanged
1890 – Henri Nestlé, Founder of Nestlé S.A. (b. 1814) Dies
1898 – U.S. President William McKinley signs the Newlands Resolution annexing Hawaii as a territory of the United States.
1911 – The United States, Great Britain, Japan, and Russia sign the North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911 banning open-water seal hunting, the first international treaty to address wildlife preservation issues.
1919 – Jon Pertwee, English actor, 3rd Doctor Who (d. 1996) was born.
1928 – Sliced bread is sold for the first time (on the inventor’s 48th birthday) by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri.
1930 – Industrialist Henry J. Kaiser begins construction of the Boulder Dam (now known as Hoover Dam)
1930 – Arthur Conan Doyle, British writer (Sherlock Holmes), dies at 71
1940 – Ringo Starr, English singer-songwriter, drummer, and actor (The Beatles, Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, and Plastic Ono Band) was born.
1941 – Jim Rodford, English bass player (The Kinks, The Swinging Blue Jeans, The Zombies, The Kast Off Kinks, and Argent) was born.
1946 – Howard Hughes nearly dies when his XF-11 reconnaissance aircraft prototype crashes in a Beverly Hills neighborhood.
1947 – The Roswell incident, the (supposed) crash of an alien spaceship near Roswell in New Mexico.
1948 – “Downtown Freddie” Brown, NBAer (Seattle SuperSonic)Born
1948 – Larry “Rhino” Reinhardt, rock guitarist (Iron Butterfly) (d. 2012)Born
1949 – Shelley Duvall, Houston Texas, actress (Popeye, Faery Tale Theater)Born
1953 – Ernesto “Che” Guevara sets out on a trip through Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador.
1954 – Elvis Presley makes his radio debut when WHBQ Memphis played his first recording for Sun Records, “That’s All Right.”
1955 – Following “Rock Around the Clock” being featured on the opening credits of the film Blackboard Jungle, the record becomes Number 1 on the American Billboard music charts becoming the first rock and roll record to hit the top of the American record charts where it stayed for eight weeks. It quickly then became a number One on many other music charts around the world. It’s success provided the springboard for the growth in rock n roll music over the next 10 years.
1958 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Alaska Statehood Act into law.
1959 – Jessica Hahn, evangelist rape victim/model (playboy)/actress Born
1967 – Vivian Leigh, actress (Scarlet-Gone with the Wind), dies at 53
1971 – The Voting Age in the United States is lowered to 18 yrs old when the 26th Amendment to the US constition is ratified
1973 – Veronica Lake, [Constance Ockleman], actress (Ramrod), dies at 58
1980 – Dan Whitesides, American drummer (The Used) Born
1981 – Synyster Gates, American guitarist (Avenged Sevenfold) Born
1981 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan appoints Sandra Day O’Connor to become the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States.
1981 – Riots have broken out in Toxteth, Liverpool with between 200 and 300 youths involved in looting, attacking police, cars and shops with petrol bombs and bricks. The rioters have been turning over cars and turning them into barricades, most of the youths are wearing balaclava’s to evade detection and this seems to be an orchestrated attack on the police with leaders handing out petrol bombs and orders on where they are to be used.
Documentary about Brixton Riot 5 days later
1983 – Cold War: Samantha Smith, a U.S. schoolgirl, flies to the Soviet Union at the invitation of Secretary General Yuri Andropov.
1993 – Mia Zapata, American singer with The Gits (b. 1965)Murdered in Seattle.
2003 – Following an outbreak of the (Alleged) deadly SARS ( Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome )which had killed about 775 people in 29 countries the World Health Organization (WHO) announces that SARS is now contained.
2005 – A series of four explosions occurs on London’s transport system killing 56 people including four alleged suicide bombers and injuring over 700 others.
2006 – Syd Barrett, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Pink Floyd and Stars) (b. 1946) died.