1536 – The Siege of Cuzco commences, in which Incan forces attempt to retake the city of Cuzco from the Spanish.
1536 – King Henry VIII orders English-language Bibles be placed in every church.
1626 – Dutch colonist Peter Minuit buys Manhattan Island from local Indians for 60 guilders worth of trinkets
1682 – Louis XIV moves his court to the Palace of Versailles.
1757 – English poet Christopher Smart is admitted into St Luke’s Hospital for Lunatics in London, beginning his six-year confinement to mental asylums.
1758 – Maximilien Robespierre, Arras Fr, French revolutionary/avocat (1781) born
Robespierre appeared at the Convention on 26 July (8th Thermidor, year II, according to the Revolutionary calendar), and delivered a two-hour-long speech. He defended himself against charges of dictatorship and tyranny, and then proceeded to warn of a conspiracy against the Republic. Specifically, he railed against the bloody excesses he had observed during the Terror. He also implied that members of the Convention were a part of this conspiracy
Because he had threatened to expose the Illuminists behind the Revolution, Robespierre had doomed himself. — Eustace Mullins / The Curse of Canaan
1787 – 1st African American Masonic Lodge (African # 459) forms Prince Hall, Boston
1835 – James Gordon Bennett, Sr. publishes the first issue of the New York Herald.
1840 – The Penny Black postage stamp becomes valid for use in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
1844 – The Glaciarium, the world’s first mechanically frozen ice rink, opens.
1851 – Dr John Gorrie patents a “refrigeration machine”
1856 – Sigmund Freud, Freiberg in Mähren, Moravia, Austrian neurologist, Cocaine addict, and “father” of psychology, (d. 1939) Birthed
1857 – The British East India Company disbands the 34th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry whose sepoy Mangal Pandey had earlier revolted against the British and is considered to be the First Martyr in the War of Indian Independence.
1861 – Rabindranath Tagore, Hindu poet/mystic/composer (Nobel 1913) born
1861 – Motilal Nehru, Indian freedom fighter (d. 1931) Born
1861 – Jefferson Davis approves a bill declaring War between US & Confederacy / Arkansas secedes from the Union. / Richmond, Virginia is declared the new capital of the Confederate States of America. / The Battle of Chancellorsville ends with the defeat of the Army of the Potomac by Confederate troops.
1862 – Henry David Thoreau, US writer/pacifist (Walden Pond), dies at 44
1882 – Chinese Exclusion Act: US Congress ceases Chinese immigration
1877 – Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Sioux surrenders to United States troops in Nebraska.
1880 – William Joseph Simmons, American Ku Klux Klan leader (d. 1945) was birthed.
1882 – The United States Congress passes the Chinese Exclusion Act.
1882 – Lord Frederick Cavendish, Anglo-Irish politician, Chief Secretary for Ireland (assassinated) (b. 1836) died.
1882 – Thomas Henry Burke, Irish civil servant (assassinated) (b. 1829) died.
1889 – The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris.
1890 – Mormon Church renounces polygamy [1006-Truth Restored (Morman pub)]
1906 – Tsar Nicolas II of Russia claims right to legislate by decree and restricts the power of the Duma (Russian Parliament)
1915 – Orson Welles [George], Kenosha Wisc, actor (Citizen Kane, War of the Worlds), (d. 1985) Born
1919 – Frank Lyman Baum, author (Wizard of Oz), monetary reform activist… dies at 62
1931 – Willie Mays, Westfield Alabama, baseball centerfielder (Giants, NY Mets), “Say Hey Kid” (660 HRs, MVP 1954) Born
1935 – New Deal: Executive Order 7034 creates the Works Progress Administration.
1937 – Hindenburg disaster: The German zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire and is destroyed within a minute while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six people are killed.
1937 – Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, Clifton, New Jersey, American boxer whose murder convictions were overturned after 19 years in prison, Born
1940 – John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath.
1941 – At California’s March Field, Bob Hope performs his first USO show.
1941 – Joseph Stalin became premier of Russia
1943 – Andreas Baader, German terrorist, co-founded the Red Army Faction (d. 1977) was birthed.
1945 – Bob Seger, Dearborn Mich, rock & Roll artist (Silver Bullet Band-Shake Down) Born
1945 – World War II: The Prague Offensive, the last major battle of the Eastern Front, begins.
1945 – World War II: Axis Sally delivers her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops (first was on December 11, 1941).
1948 – 43 communist rebels, executed in Athens
1949 – EDSAC, the first practical electronic digital stored-program computer, runs its first operation.
1952 – Maria Montessori, Italian physician/educationist, dies at 81
1953 – Tony Blair, Scottish-English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom was birthed.
1954 – Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run the mile in under four minutes.
1955 – West Germany joins NATO
1957 – Pulitzer prize awarded to John F Kennedy (Profiles in Courage)
1960 – More than 20 million viewers watch the first televised royal wedding when Princess Margaret marries Anthony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey.
1960 – US President Eisenhower signs Civil Rights Act of 1960
1960 – Trotsky’s murderer Jacques Mornard (Ramon Mercader) freed in Mexico
1961 – Lucian Blaga, philosopher/poet (Transcendental censor), dies at 65
1961 – George Clooney, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter was birthed.
1966 – Myra Hindley and Ian Brady are sentenced to life imprisonment for the Moors murders in England.
1967 – 400 students seize administration building at Cheyney State College
1968 – Street battle between students & troops in Paris, 1000 injured
1968 – Spain closes border to Gibraltar except to Spaniards
1969 – Northern Ireland Prime Minister Chichester-Clark announces an amnesty for all offences associated with demonstrations since 5 October 1968, resulting in the release of, among others, (Loyalists) Ian Paisley and Ronald Bunting
1971 – Chris Shiflett, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Foo Fighters, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Jackson United, No Use for a Name, and Viva Death) was born.
1974 – Stolen “Guitar Player” painting by Jan Vermeer found in London
1975 – During a lull in fighting, 100,000 Armenians gather in Beirut to commemorate 60th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
1976 – An earthquake strikes Friuli in Northern Italy, causing 989 deaths and the destruction of entire villages.
1983 – The Hitler Diaries are revealed as a hoax after examination by experts.
1983 – Trinley Thaye Dorje, Tibetan religious leader, the 17th Karmapa Lama was born.
1985 – Chris Paul, All-Star NBA Point Guard (LA Clippers), born
1986 – Donald E Pelotte becomes 1st native American bishop
1987 – Gary Hart denies affair with model Donna Rice
1987 – William J. Casey, American politician, 13th Director of Central Intelligence (b. 1913) died.
1989 – Cedar Point opens Magnum XL-200, the first roller coaster to break the 200 ft height barrier, therefore spawning what is known as the “coaster wars”.
1992 – Marlene Dietrich, [Maria Losch], actress (Angel), dies in Paris at 90
1994 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and French President François Mitterrand officiate at the opening of the (Chunnel) Channel Tunnel.
1994 – Former Arkansas state worker Paula Jones files a lawsuit against United States President Bill Clinton, alleging that he had sexually harassed her in 1991.
1994 – Comedian Bobcat Goldthwait sets fire to the couch on Tonight Show
1994 – US House of Representatives passes the Federal Assault Weapons Ban
1994 – Nelson Mandela and the ANC, finally confirmed winners in South Africa’s first post apartheid election
1994 – Haskell “Cool Papa” Sadler, blues singer/guitarist, dies at 59
1995 – Leanoard “Red” Truss, R&B singer, dies at 47
1996 – The body of former CIA director William Colby is found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he disappeared.
1996 – Guatemala’s leftist guerrillas sign key accord with government of President Alvaro Arzu aimed at ending 35 years of civil war
1997 – The Bank of England is given independence from “political control”, the most significant change in the bank’s 300-year history.
1997 – Michael Jackson & Bee Gees inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
2001 – During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to enter a mosque.
2002 – Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is shot and killed by an animal rights activist
2004 – The series finale of the television sitcom Friends is aired on NBC. The finale attracts 52.46 million viewers, making it the fourth most watched television series finale in U.S. history.
2006 – Lillian Asplund, American survivor of the Sinking of the RMS Titanic (b. 1906) died.
2008 – Chaiten Volcano erupts in Chile, forcing the evacuation of more than 4,500 people.
2010 – The second largest intraday point swing in Dow Jones Industrial Average history occurs.
2011 – The US Department of Labor states that 244,000 jobs were created in April, with 235,000 added in February and 221,000 in March, but unemployment continues to grow, reaching 9%
2012 – Francois Hollande elected President of France
2013 – Three women missing for more than a decade are found alive in the U.S. city of Cleveland, Ohio. Ariel Castro, is taken into custody.
2013 – Wal-Mart becomes the largest company by revenue on the Fortune 500 list
2013 – The US Senate passes a bill enabling taxing of online sales
2014 – Farley Mowat, Canadian environmentalist and author (b. 1921) died