763 BC – Assyrians record a solar eclipse that is later used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history.
1215 – King John of England puts his seal to the Magna Carta.
1219 – Northern Crusades: Danish victory at the Battle of Lyndanisse (modern-day Tallinn) establishes the Danish Duchy of Estonia. According to legend, this battle also marks the first use of the Dannebrog, the world’s first national flag still in use, as the national flag of Denmark.
1381 – Wat Tyler, English leader of the Peasants’ Revolt (b. 1341) died.
1502 – Christopher Columbus lands on the island of Martinique on his fourth voyage.
1520 – Pope Leo X threatens to excommunicate Martin Luther in papal bull Exsurge Domine.
1648 – Margaret Jones is hanged in Boston for witchcraft in the first such execution for the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
1667 – The first human blood transfusion is administered by Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys.
1752 – Benjamin Franklin proves that lightning is electricity (traditional date, the exact date is unknown).
1775 – American Revolutionary War: George Washington is appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.
1776 – Delaware Separation Day: Delaware votes to suspend government under the British Crown and separate officially from Pennsylvania.
1804 – New Hampshire approves the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratifying the document.
1836 – Arkansas is admitted as the 25th U.S. state.
1844 – Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber.
1846 – The Oregon Treaty establishes the 49th parallel as the border between the United States and Canada, from the Rocky Mountains to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
1849 – James K. Polk, American lawyer and politician, 11th President of the United States (b. 1795) died.
1859 – Pig War: Ambiguity in the Oregon Treaty leads to the “Northwestern Boundary Dispute” between United States and British/Canadian settlers.
1864 – American Civil War: The Second Battle of Petersburg begins.
1864 – Arlington National Cemetery is established when 200 acres (0.81 km2) around Arlington Mansion (formerly owned by Confederate General Robert E. Lee) are officially set aside as a military cemetery by U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.
1877 – Henry Ossian Flipper becomes the first African American cadet to graduate from the United States Military Academy.
1878 – Eadweard Muybridge takes a series of photographs to prove that all four feet of a horse leave the ground when it runs; the study becomes the basis of motion pictures.
1904 – A fire aboard the steamboat SS General Slocum in New York City’s East River kills 1,000.
1911 – Wilbert Awdry, English author, co-created Thomas the Tank Engine (d. 1997) was born.
1916 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signs a bill incorporating the Boy Scouts of America, making them the only American youth organization with a federal charter.
1919 – John Alcock and Arthur Brown complete the first nonstop transatlantic flight when they reach Clifden, County Galway, Ireland.
1920 – Duluth lynchings in Minnesota.
1920 – Sam Sniderman, Canadian businessman, founded Sam the Record Man (d. 2012) was born.
1940 – World War II: Operation Ariel begins – Allied troops start to evacuate France, following Germany’s takeover of Paris and most of the nation.
1944 – World War II: Battle of Saipan: The United States invade Japanese-occupied Saipan.
1949 – Russell Hitchcock, Australian singer-songwriter (Air Supply) was born.
1949 – Jim Varney, American actor (d. 2000) was born.
1951 – Steve Walsh, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (Kansas and Streets) was born.
1954 – Jim Belushi, American actor and singer was born.
1969 – Jeff Neal, American drummer (Boston) was born.
1970 – Charles Manson goes on trial for the Sharon Tate murders.
1971 – Bif Naked, Indian-Canadian singer-songwriter, actress, and poet was born.
1972 – Hank von Helvete, Norwegian singer and guitarist (Turbonegro and Doctor Midnight & The Mercy Cult) was born.
1985 – Rembrandt’s painting Danaë is attacked by a man (later judged insane) who throws sulfuric acid on the canvas and cuts it twice with a knife.
1992 – The United States Supreme Court rules in United States v. Álvarez-Machaín that it is permissible for the United States to forcibly extradite suspects in foreign countries and bring them to the USA for trial, without approval from those other countries.
1994 – Israel and Vatican City establish full diplomatic relations.
1996 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army explodes a large bomb in the middle of Manchester, England, United Kingdom.
2014 – Casey Kasem, American radio host, producer, and actor, co-created American Top 40 (b. 1932) died.
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