324 – Battle of Adrianople Roman Emperor Constantine I defeats Co-Emperor Licinius, who flees to Byzantium.
1035 – William the Conqueror becomes the Duke of Normandy, reigns until 1087.
1187 – Battle of Horns of Hattin; Saladin, Sultan of Egypt and Syria, destroys Jerusalem’s crusader army.
1608 – Québec City is founded by Samuel de Champlain.
1754 – French and Indian War: George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to French forces.
1775 – Washington takes command of Continental Army at Cambridge, Mass
1778 – British forces massacre 360 men, women & children in Wyoming, Pa
1819 – The Bank of Savings in New York City, the first savings bank in the United States, opens.
1844 – The last pair of great auks is killed.
1848 – Slaves are freed in the Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands) by Peter von Scholten in the culmination of a year-long plot by enslaved Africans.
1852 – Congress establishes the United States’ 2nd mint in San Francisco.
1863 – American Civil War: The final day of the Battle of Gettysburg culminates with Pickett’s Charge.
1863 – Little Crow, American tribal leader (b. 1810) died.
1864 – Battle of Chattahoochie River, GA [until Jul 9]
1871 – Jesse James robs bank in Corydon, Iowa ($45,000)
1883 – Franz Kafka, Czech, author (Metamorphosis, Trial, Amerika)Born
1884 – Dow Jones and Company publishes its first stock average.
1886 – Karl Benz officially unveils the Benz Patent Motorwagen: The first purpose-built automobile.
1886 – The New York Tribune becomes the first newspaper to use a linotype machine, eliminating typesetting by hand.
1890 – Idaho is admitted as the 43rd U.S. state.
1890 – King Leopold II gives Congo, previously a private possession, to Belgium
1893 – Mississippi John Hurt, Teoc Mississippi, American blues singer and guitarist, born
1898 – Spanish–American War: The Spanish fleet, led by Pascual Cervera y Topete, is destroyed by the U.S. Navy in Santiago, Cuba.
1900 – Trying in stem the growing popular resentment, Tsar Nicholas of Russia issues a decree that abolishes the banishment of dissidents and troublemakers to Siberia
1913 – Confederate veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913 reenact Pickett’s Charge; upon reaching the high-water mark of the Confederacy they are met by the outstretched hands of friendship from Union survivors.
1915 – After exploding a bomb in the US Senate reception room the previous day, Erich Muenter, an instructor in German at Cornell University, shoots JP Morgan for representing the British government in war contract negotiations
On 3 July 1915, an intruder, Eric Muenter, entered Morgan’s Long Island mansion and shot him twice in an attempt to assassinate him. This was ostensibly to bring about an embargo on arms, and in protest of his profiteering from war. Morgan, however, quickly recovered from his wounds.
1916 – henrietta (Hetty) Green, (Witch of Wall Street), dies at 81
1937 – Jacob Schick, American-Canadian captain and businessman, invented the electric razor (b. 1877) died.
1938 – United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates the Eternal Light Peace Memorial and lights the eternal flame (MASONIC / ILLUMINATI) at Gettysburg Battlefield.
1939 – Lou Gehrig day; Gehrig makes “luckiest man” speech
1940 – German occupiers forbid using Dutch (HOUSE OF ORANGE) royal names
1947 – Cleveland Indians purchase Larry Dolby, the 1st black in AL
1948 – Kidnapper Caryl Chessman sentenced to death, California; the execution didn’t happen until 1960
1952 – The Constitution of Puerto Rico is approved by the Congress of the United States.
1959 – Stephen Pearcy, American singer-songwriter, and guitarist (Ratt, Arcade, Vertex, and Vicious Delite) was born.
1962 – Tom Cruise, American actor and producer was born
1962 – Algerian Revolution against French rule ends (Algeria gains independence on 5th July)
1964 – Yeardley Smith, French-born American actress was born.
1965 – Harold Strachan, member of the Communist Party of South Africa and Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress, is served with a restriction order in terms of the Suppression of Communism Act
1965 – Trigger, horse (Roy Rogers), dies at 25
1966 – Race riots in Omaha Nebraska
1969 – Kevin Hearn, Canadian singer and keyboard player (Barenaked Ladies, Rheostatics, and Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle) was born.
1969 – Brian Jones, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (The Rolling Stones) (b. 1942) died.
1969 – 78,000 attend Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, RI
1970 – 200,000 attend Atlanta Pop Festival
1970 – The Troubles: The “Falls Curfew” begins in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
1971 – Jim Morrison, American singer-songwriter (The Doors and Rick & the Ravens) (b. 1943) died.
1971 – Julian Assange, Australian journalist, publisher, and activist, founded WikiLeaks was born.
1976 – Brian Wilson performs with the Beach Boys after 12 years apart
1976 – Israel launches rescue of 103 Air France crew & passengers being held at Entebbe Airport in Uganda by pro-Palestinian hijackers
1978 – US Supreme Court rules 5-4, FCC had a right to reprimand NY radio station WBAI for broadcasting George Carlin’s “Filthy Words”
1979 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul.
1984 – Supreme Court rules Jaycees may be forced to admit women as members
1985 – CBS announces a 21% stock buy-back to thwart Ted Turner’s takeover
1986 – President Reagan presided over relighting of renovated Statue of “Liberty”
1988 – United States Navy warship USS Vincennes shoots down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.
1989 – US Supreme Court rules states do not have to provide funds for abortions
1989 – Jim Backus, actor (Magoo, Gilligan’s Island), dies at 76 of pneumonia
1990 – Members of 2 Live Crew formally charged with obscenity in Florida
1993 – “Curly” Joe DeRita, last of Three Stooges, dies of pneumonia at 83
1994 – The deadliest day in Texas traffic history, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Forty six people were killed in crashes.
1996 – Stone of Scone is returned to Scotland.
1997 – Mississippi becomes 1st state to settle tobacco suit
2001 – At a meeting of its oil ministers, OPEC agrees to maintain current production quotas; ministers indicate (Threaten) that, if Iraqi oil returns to the market, they may cut production in response to maintain their desired level of prices
2005 – The national law legalizing same-sex marriage takes effect in Spain.
2012 – Andy Griffith, American actor, singer, and producer (b. 1926) died.
2012 – Antonio Esfandiari wins a record $18.3 million in poker after winning the 2012 World Series of Poker $1,000,000 Buy-In
2013 – Egyptian coup d’état: President of Egypt Mohamed Morsi is overthrown by the military after four days of protests all over the country calling for Morsi’s resignation, to which he didn’t respond. President of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt Adly Mansour is declared acting president.
2014 – Germany passes first nation-wide minimum wage law – at 8.5 euros