1788 – Virginia becomes the 10th state to ratify the United States Constitution.
1876 – The U.S. Seventh Cavalry led by George Armstrong Custer, were attacked by 3,000 native American Indians consisting mostly of Sioux and Cheyenne led by Crazy Horse, within one hour of the attack every last one of the soldiers were dead.
1900 – The Taoist monk Wang Yuanlu discovers the Dunhuang manuscripts, a cache of ancient texts that are of great historical and religious significance, in the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang, China.
1903 – George Orwell, English author (d. 1950) was born.
1906 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania millionaire Harry Thaw shoots and kills prominent architect Stanford White.
1910 – The United States Congress passes the Mann Act, which prohibits interstate transport of females for “immoral purposes”; the ambiguous language would be used to selectively prosecute people for years to come.
1913 – American Civil War veterans begin arriving at the Great Reunion of 1913.
1928 – Peyo, Belgian author and illustrator, created The Smurfs (d. 1992) was born.
1935 – Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Colombia are established.
1938 – Problems with Native American Indian Businesses using The Swastika which is an Indian symbol of good luck and predates the modern world including the use of the swastika buy the Nazi Party in Germany is causing those Indian businesses to stop displaying the sign due to people believing it stands for the Nazis.
1940 – World War II: France officially surrenders to Germany at 01:35.
1943 – Major General Dwight D. Eisenhower takes command as Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.. After proving himself on the battlefields of North Africa and Italy in 1942 and 1943 , Eisenhower was appointed supreme commander of Operation Overlord in 1944 the Allied invasion of northwestern Europe.
1943 – The Holocaust: Jews in the Częstochowa Ghetto in Poland stage an uprising against the Nazis.
1944 – World War II: United States Navy and Royal Navy ships bombard Cherbourg to support United States Army units engaged in the Battle of Cherbourg.
1946 – Allen Lanier, American guitarist and songwriter (Blue Öyster Cult) (d. 2013) was born.
1947 – The Diary of a Young Girl (better known as The Diary of Anne Frank) is published.
1948 – Following the Russian blockade of West Berlin stopping fuel, electricity and food US Soldiers are patrolling the streets in armored cars with mounted machine guns. In retaliation to the blockade the US and UK have stopped all exports to East Berlin and the USSR.
1949 – Long-Haired Hare, starring Bugs Bunny, is released in theaters.
1950 – The Korean War begins with the invasion of South Korea by North Korea.
1951 – The first commercial color television show was transmitted by the Columbia Broadcasting System CBS . While color television sets were generally not available it was estimated that about 40,000 people saw the first color program.
1952 – Martin Gerschwitz, German singer-songwriter and keyboard player (Iron Butterfly) was born.
1954 – Sonia Sotomayor, American jurist, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court was born.
1956 – Anthony Bourdain, American chef and author was born.
1960 – Two cryptographers working for the United States National Security Agency left for vacation to Mexico, and from there defected to the Soviet Union.
1963 – George Michael, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (Wham!) was born.
1967 – The Beatles record “All You Need Is Love” in front of an international television audience on “Our World”, the first live global television link. Broadcast to 26 countries and watched by an estimated 350 million people. The BBC had commissioned the Beatles to write a song for the UK’s contribution to the program containing a simple message to be understood by all nationalities .
1976 – Missouri Governor Kit Bond issues an executive order rescinding the Extermination Order, formally apologizing on behalf of the state of Missouri for the suffering it had caused to the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
1975 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi has a state of internal Emergency declared in India.
1978 – The rainbow flag representing gay pride is flown for the first time in the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade.
1981 – Microsoft is restructured to become an incorporated business in its home state of Washington.
1982 – Greece abolishes the head shaving of recruits in the military.
1997 – Jacques Cousteau, French oceanographer and explorer (b. 1910) died.
1998 – In Clinton v. City of New York, the United States Supreme Court decides that the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 is unconstitutional.
2009 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress (b. 1947) died.
2009 – Michael Jackson, American singer-songwriter, producer, dancer, and actor (The Jackson 5) (b. 1958) died.
2009 – Sky Saxon, American singer-songwriter (The Seeds) (b. 1937) died.
2010 – What was believed to be one of the last remaining large statues of former-Soviet leader Stalin to be standing in its original location was removed overnight in a secretive manner. Authorities in Gori, Georgia removed a large statue of Josef Stalin from the square in his home town and sent it to a museum dedicated to him in the town. A memorial dedicated to the victims of the 2008 war with Russia was set to replace the statue.
2012 – George Randolph Hearst, Jr., American businessman (b. 1927) died.
Source