1305 – William Wallace, who led the Scottish resistance against England, is captured by the English near Glasgow and transported to London where he is put on trial and executed.
1583 – Sir Humphrey Gilbert establishes the first English colony in North America, at what is now St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.
1600 – The Gowrie Conspiracy against King James VI of Scotland (later to become King James I of England) takes place.
1620 – The Mayflower departs from Southampton, England on its first attempt to reach North America.
1689 – One thousand five hundred Iroquois attack the village of Lachine in New France.
1735 – Freedom of the press: New York Weekly Journal writer John Peter Zenger is acquitted of seditious libel against the royal governor of New York, on the basis that what he had published was true.
1749 – Thomas Lynch, signer (Declaration of Independence) Born
1763 – Pontiac’s War: Battle of Bushy Run – British forces led by Henry Bouquet defeat Chief Pontiac’s Indians at Bushy Run.
1861 – American Civil War: In order to help pay for the war effort, the United States government levies the first income tax as part of the Revenue Act of 1861 (3% of all incomes over US $800; rescinded in 1872).
1861 – The United States Army abolishes flogging.
1862 – Joseph Merrick, “Elephant Man,” an English man with severe deformities (d. 1890) was born.
1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Baton Rouge – Along the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Confederate troops attempt to take the city, but are driven back by fire from Union gunboats.
1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Mobile Bay begins – At Mobile Bay near Mobile, Alabama, Admiral David Farragut leads a Union flotilla through Confederate defenses and seals one of the last major Southern ports.
1882 – The Standard Oil of New Jersey is established.
1884 – The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe’s Island (now Liberty Island) in New York Harbor.
1906 – John Huston, Nevada Mo, director/writer (African Queen, Chinatown) Born
1914 – World War I: The guns of Point Nepean fort at Port Phillip Heads in Victoria (Australia) fire across the bows of the Norddeutscher Lloyd steamer SS Pfalz which is attempting to leave the Port of Melbourne in ignorance of the declaration of war and she is detained; this is said to be the first Allied shot of the War.
1914 – In Cleveland, Ohio, the first electric traffic light is installed.
1920 – Senator Harding of Tennessee wired republican leaders to ask for support for the women’s’ suffrage movement in the legislature. The general assembly of Tennessee was on the brink of deciding whether it would support the cause or not. Senator Harding sent telegrams to two leading women in the suffrage movement — Mrs.Carrie Chapman Catt and Mrs.George Milton — telling them it looked hopeful for women getting the vote in Tennessee.
1926 – Harry Houdini performs his greatest feat, spending 91 minutes underwater in a sealed tank before escaping.
1929 – Millicent Fawcett, English activist (b. 1847) died.
1930 – Neil Armstrong, Wapakoneta Ohio, X-15 pilot, 1st Moonwalker (Gemini 8, Apollo 11), (d. 2012) Born
1937 – Herb Brooks, Saint Paul Minnesota, American ice hockey coach (Olympic Gold Medal 1980) Born
1940 – World War II: The Soviet Union formally annexes Latvia.
1940 – Frederick A Cook, US, explorer (North Pole), dies at 75
1940 – Rick Huxley, English bass player (The Dave Clark Five) (d. 2013) was born.
1944 – World War II: Possibly the biggest prison breakout in history occurs as 545 Japanese POWs attempt to escape outside the town of Cowra, New South Wales, Australia.
1944 – Polish freedom fighters liberate a German forced labor camp in Warsaw, freeing 348 Jewish prisoners, who join in a general uprising against the Germans.
1944 – World War II: The Nazis begin a week-long massacre of anywhere between 40,000 and 100,000 civilians and prisoners of war in Wola, Poland.
1946 – Rick van der Linden, Dutch keyboard player and songwriter (Ekseption and Trace) (d. 2006) was born.
1946 – Loni Anderson, St Paul Minn, American actress (Jennifer-WKRP in Cincinnati)Born
1947 – Rick Derringer, rocker ( Rock n Roll Hoochie Koo, Frankenstein, I am the Real American (Hulk Hogan’s theme) Born
1947 – Angry Anderson, Australian singer-songwriter and actor (Rose Tattoo, The Party Boys, and Buster Brown) was born.
1947 – Greg Leskiw, Canadian guitarist and songwriter (The Guess Who) was born.
1955 – Carmen Miranda, singer/actress (Down Argentine Way), dies at 42
1955 – Eddie Ojeda, American guitarist and songwriter (Twisted Sister) was born.
1956 – Maureen McCormick, Encino California, actress (Marcia-Brady Bunch)Born
1957 – American Bandstand, a show dedicated to the teenage “baby-boomers” by playing the songs and showing popular dances of the time, debuts on the ABC television network.
1958 – Herbert Hoover eclipses John Adams as having the longest retirement of any former U.S President until that time. Hoover would live another six years, his record 31 years 7 months 16 days retirement has since been eclipsed by Jimmy Carter.
1959 – Pete Burns, English singer-songwriter (Dead or Alive) was born.
1959 – Pat Smear, American guitarist (Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Germs, and Adolescents) was born.
1962 – Apartheid in South Africa: Nelson Mandela is jailed. He would not be released until 1990.
1962 – Marilyn Monroe, found dead of apparent self-inflicted drug overdose at 36
1963 – The United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union sign a nuclear test ban treaty.
1964 – Vietnam War: Operation Pierce Arrow – American aircraft from carriers USS Ticonderoga and USS Constellation bomb North Vietnam in retaliation for strikes against U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.
1964 – MCA [Adam Yauch], Brooklyn New York, rock vocalist (Beastie Boys-You Gotta Fight), (d. 2012) born
1965 – Jeff Coffin, American saxophonist and composer (Dave Matthews Band and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones) was born.
1971 – Jared Hasselhoff, American bass player and songwriter (Bloodhound Gang) was born.
1972 – Christian Olde Wolbers, Belgian-American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Fear Factory, Beowülf, Arkaea, and Kush) was born.
1974 – Vietnam War: The U.S. Congress places a $1 billion limit on military aid to South Vietnam.
1979 – In Afghanistan, Maoists undertake an attempted military uprising.
1981 – President Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 striking air-traffic controllers who ignored his order for them to return to work.
1991 – Paul Brown, NFL founder (Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals), dies at 82
2000 – Sir Alec Guinness, British actor (b. 1914) Dies
2003 – A car bomb explodes in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta outside the Marriott Hotel killing 12 and injuring 150.
2010 – Ten members of International Assistance Mission Nuristan Eye Camp team are killed by persons unknown in Kuran wa Munjan District of Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan.
2012 – The Oak Creek shooting took place at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, killing six people; the perpetrator was shot dead by police. (Several other shooters allegedly escaped)