585 BC – A solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by the Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Cyaxares in the Battle of Halys, leading to a truce. This is one of the cardinal dates from which other dates can be calculated.
1503 – James IV of Scotland and Margaret Tudor are married according to a papal bull by Pope Alexander VI. A Treaty of Everlasting Peace between Scotland and England signed on that occasion results in a peace that lasts ten years.
1533 – The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, declares the marriage of King Henry VIII of England to Anne Boleyn valid.
1754 – French and Indian War: in the first engagement of the war, Virginia militia under the 22-year-old Lieutenant colonel George Washington defeat a French reconnaissance party in the Battle of Jumonville Glen in what is now Fayette County in southwestern Pennsylvania.
1779 – Thomas Moore, Irish poet and composer (d. 1852) was born.
1830 – U.S. President Andrew Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act which relocates Native Americans.
1858 – Carl Richard Nyberg, Swedish inventor and businessman, developed the blow torch (d. 1939) was born.
1888 – James Francis ‘Jim’ Thorpe, Prague Oklahoma, versatile American athlete (Olympic gold 1912) (d. 1953) Born
1892 – In San Francisco, California, John Muir organizes the Sierra Club.
1910 – T-Bone Walker, Linden Tx, blues guitarist (Funky Town, Well Done) Born
1917 – Papa John Creach, American violinist (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna, and The Dinosaurs) (d. 1994) was born.
1922 – Barney Rosset, publisher and free speech advocate (publisher of Tropic for Cancer), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2012) Born
1931 – Carroll Baker, Penn, actress (Andy Warhol’s Bad, Babydoll, Harlow) Born
1934 – Near Callander, Ontario, Canada, the Dionne quintuplets are born to Oliva and Elzire Dionne; they will be the first quintuplets to survive infancy.
1936 – Alan Turing submits On Computable Numbers for publication.
1937 – The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Washington, D.C., who pushes a button signaling the start of vehicle traffic over the span.
1937 – Volkswagen (VW), the German automobile manufacturer is founded.
1938 – Jerry West, West Virginia, NBA superstar AKA: “The Logo” (LA Lakers, Olympic-gold-1960) Born
1938 – Prince Buster, Jamaican reggae musician/producer (Madness) Born
1940 – Betty Shabazz, educator/talk show hostess/widow (Malcolm X) Born
1940 – World War II: Belgium surrenders to Nazi Germany to end the Battle of Belgium.
1940 – World War II: Norwegian, French, Polish and British forces recapture Narvik in Norway. This is the first allied infantry victory of the War.
1942 – World War II: in retaliation for the assassination attempt on Reinhard Heydrich, Nazis in Czechoslovakia kill over 1,800 people.
1944 – Rudy Giuliani, (aka: Adolph Ghouliani) American lawyer and politician, 107th Mayor of New York City was birthed.
1944 – Gladys Knight, singer, leader of Pips (Last Train), born in Atlanta, Georgia
1945 – Patch Adams, American physician and author, founded the Gesundheit! Institute was born.
1945 – John Fogerty, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Golliwogs) was born.
1947 – Zahi Hawass, Egyptian archaeologist and academic was born.
1947 – Sondra Locke, Shelbyville Tenn, actress (Heart Is a Lonely Hunter) Born
1948 – Daniel François Malan is elected as Prime Minister of South Africa. He later goes on to implement Apartheid.
1949 – Wendy O. Williams, American musician (The Plasmatics) (d. 1998) Born
1953 – Arto Lindsay, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer (DNA, The Golden Palominos, The Lounge Lizards, and Ambitious Lovers) was born.
1958 – Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro’s 26th of July Movement, heavily reinforced by Frank Pais Militia, overwhelm an army post in El Uvero.
1961 – Peter Benenson’s article The Forgotten Prisoners is published in several internationally read newspapers. This will later be thought of as the founding of the human rights organization Amnesty International.
1962 – Brandon Cruz, actor (Eddie-Courtship of Eddie’s Father) Punk Rock Singer (Dr Know…) Skateboarder, Surfer BORN
1964 – The Palestine Liberation Organization is formed.
1969 – Rob Ford, Canadian politician, 64th Mayor of Toronto was birthed.
1971 – Audie Murphy, American actor (Whispering Smiths), dies of plane crash at 45
1977 – Elisabeth Hasselbeck, American talk show host and author was born.
1979 – Abdulaziz al-Omari, alleged Saudi Arabian terrorist, Patsy, alleged hijacker of American Airlines Flight 11 (d. 2001) was allegedly born.
1983 – Roman Atwood, American comedian and YouTube prankster was born.
1986 – Seth Rollins, American wrestler and Sell Out to The Authority was birthed.
1987 – 19-year-old West German pilot Mathias Rust evades Soviet Union air defenses and lands a private plane in the Red Square in Moscow, Russia. He is immediately detained and will not be released until August 3, 1988.
1995 – The Russian town of Neftegorsk is hit by a 7.6 magnitude earthquake that kills at least 2,000 people, half of the total population.
1996 – U.S. President Bill Clinton’s former business partners in the Whitewater land deal, Jim McDougal and Susan McDougal, and the Governor of Arkansas Jim Guy Tucker, are convicted of fraud.
1998 – Phil Hartman, Canadian actor and comedian, murdered by his wife in his sleep at 49
1999 – In Milan, Italy, after 22 years of restoration work, Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece The Last Supper is put back on display.
2002 – The last steel girder is removed from the original World Trade Center site. Cleanup duties officially end with closing ceremonies at Ground Zero in Manhattan, New York City.
2002 – NATO declares Russia a limited partner in the Western alliance.
2002 – The Mars Odyssey finds signs of large ice deposits on the planet Mars.
2004 – The Iraqi Governing Council chooses Ayad Allawi, a longtime anti-Saddam Hussein exile, as prime minister of Iraq’s interim government.
2007 – David Lane, American white nationalist leader, co-founded The Order (b. 1938) died.
2010 – Gary Coleman, American actor (b. 1968) died.
2012 – The discovery of Flame, a complex malware program targeting computers in Middle Eastern countries, is announced.
2014 – Maya Angelou [Marguerite Johnson], American author (“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”), poet and actress (Nyo-Roots), dies at 86