- 1185 Sea battle at Dan-no-ura: Minamoto Yoritomo beats Taira-family
- 1449 Anti-pope Felix V resigns
- 1507 German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller first to use the name America on his world map "Universalis Cosmographia"
- 1541 -26) Liege flooded after heavy down pour
- 1604 Count Maurits' army lands at Cadzand
- 1607 Battle at Gibraltar: Dutch fleet beats Spanish Portuguese fleet
- 1614 Amsterdam Bank of Loan forms
- 1626 Battle at the Dessau bridge: Albrecht von Wallenstein beats Ernst von Mansfeld
Meeting of Interest
1660 English Convention Parliament meets and votes to restore Charles II
Charles II
Historic Publication
1719 Daniel Defoe publishes "Robinson Crusoe"
Daniel Defoe
Event of Interest
1742 Elizabeth of Russia crowns herself Empress in the Dormition Cathedral in Moscow
Elizabeth of Russia
- 1747 Prince Willem V appointed viceroy of Zealand
- 1792 Guillotine first used in France, executes highwayman Nicolas Pelletier
- 1829 Charles Fremantle arrives in HMS Challenger off the coast of modern-day Western Australia prior to declaring the Swan River Colony for the United Kingdom
- 1846 Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican-American War
- 1849 The Governor General of Canada, Lord Elgin, signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, outraging Montreal's English population and triggering the Montreal Riots.
- 1850 Paul Julius Reuter sets up carrier-pigeon service, using 40 pigeons to carry stock market prices between Aachen and Brussels
- 1859 Ground broken for Suez Canal
- 1861 Battle of Lavaca, fought in Texas, Union victory (US Civil War)
- 1861 The Union Army arrives to reinforce Washington, D.C. (US Civil War)
David Farragut
Event of Interest
1886 Sigmund Freud opens practice at Rathausstrasse 7, Vienna
Sigmund Freud
Event of Interest
1891 US President Benjamin Harrison visits San Francisco
Benjamin Harrison
- 1896 Fight in Central Dance Hall starts fire at Cripple Creek, Colorado
- 1896 Sidney Jones & Harry Greenbacks musical premieres in London
- 1898 Spanish-American War: The United States declares state of war on Spain effective from 21st April
- 1901 Erve Beck hits American League's 1st home run
- 1901 New York becomes 1st state requiring automobile license plates ($1 fee)
- 1901 In last of 9th, Detroit Tigers, trailing by 13-4, score 10 runs to win one of greatest comebacks in baseball (1st game in Detroit)
- 1902 Erwin Harvey becomes 1st Cleveland ballplayer (Cleveland Bronchos) to have six hits in one game
- 1904 NY Highlander Jack Chesbro's 1st of 41 wins this year
- 1905 Latest day of 1st-class cricket in an Aust season (NSW v Qld)
- 1905 Whites win right to vote in South Africa
Event of Interest
1914 US President Woodrow Wilson is persuaded by Argentina, Brazil, and Chile to accept mediation in the conflict with Mexico
Woodrow Wilson
- 1915 First landings at Gaba Tepe and Cape Helles on the Gallipoli Peninsula by ANZAC forces during WWI
Election of Interest
1925 Paul von Hindenburg is elected the President of Germany
Paul von Hindenburg
Music Premiere
1926 Giacomo Puccini's opera "Turandot" premieres in Milan
Giacomo Puccini
- 1926 Persian cossack officer Reza Chan crowns himself Shah Palawi
- 1927 Spain routes 20,000 soldiers to Morocco (uprising Rifkabylen)
- 1928 Buddy, a German Shepherd, becomes 1st guide dog for a US citizen Morris Frank
- 1932 Rose Franken's "Another Language" premieres in NYC
- 1933 NY Yankee Russ Van Atta shuts out Washington Senators 16-0
Adolf Hitler
- 1942 Beginning of a 3 night bombing blitz on Bath by German Luftwaffe - 417 killed
- 1943 The Demyansk Shield for German troops in commemoration of Demyansk Pocket instituted
- 1944 United Negro College Fund incorporates
- 1945 45 countries convene UN Conference on Intl Organization in San Francisco
- 1945 Allied air raid on Surabaja, Java
- 1945 British troops reach Grebbe line Neth
- 1945 Clandestine Radio 1212, used to hoax Nazi Germany's final transmission
- 1945 Last Boeing B-17 attack against Nazi Germany
Raising a Flag over the Reichstag
1945 Soviet forces complete their encirclement of Berlin, cutting off all access points west of the German capital
More >>
- 1945 "Elbe Day" - US and Soviet forces meet at Torgau, Germany on the Elbe River during the invasion of Germany in WWII
- 1946 "Exposition Flyer" rammed at Napierville Illinois, killing 48
- 1946 Christopher Fry's "Phoenix too Frequent" premieres in London
- 1947 Lou Thesz beats Whipper Watson in St Louis, to win National Wrestling Association world heavyweight title
- 1947 Trial against WW II mayor of Amsterdam Edward Voete begins
- 1949 Friedrich Durrenmatt's "Romulus der Grosse" premieres in Basel
- 1950 Republik Maluku Selatan (also known as the Republic of the South Moluccas) declared on Ambon
- 1950 Chuck Cooper becomes 1st African American to play in NBA
- 1952 6th NBA Championship: Minneapolis Lakers beat NY Knicks, 4 games to 3
- 1952 American Bowling Congress approves use of an automatic pinsetter
- 1952 German state of Bathe-Wurttemberg forms
Scientific Discovery
1953 Francis Crick and James Watson's discovery of the double helix structure of DNA is published in "Nature" magazine
Francis Crick
James Watson
First Solar Battery
1954 Bell labs announces the 1st solar battery made from silicon. It has about 6% efficiency.
More >>
- 1954 British raid Nairobi, Kenya (25,000 Mau Mau suspects arrested)
- 1954 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island atmospher
- 1954 WDEF TV channel 12 in Chattanooga, TN (CBS) begins broadcasting
- 1956 Noel Coward's musical "South Sea Bubble" premieres in London
- 1957 1st experimental sodium nuclear reactor operated
- 1957 Ibrahim Hashim forms Jordanian government
- 1957 WUHY TV channel 35 in Philadelphia, PA (PBS) begins broadcasting
- 1959 St Lawrence Seaway linking Atlantic and the Great Lakes opens to shipping
Event of Interest
1959 Then-bishop Karol Wojtyla's (future Pope John Paul II) celebrates newly completed Nowa Huta, Poland's first ever Mass at midnight of Christmas morning
John Paul II
- 1960 1st submerged circumnavigation of Earth completed by USS submarine Triton in 60 days, 21 hours
- 1961 Belgium government of Gaston Eyskens falls over the Unitary Law
- 1961 "Young Abe Lincoln" opens at Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC for 27 performances
- 1961 France performs nuclear test at Reggane Proving Grounds Algeria
- 1961 Mercury/Atlas rocket lifted off with an electronic mannequin
- 1961 Premier Moise Tsjombe of Katanga arrested in Congo
- 1961 Robert Noyce patents integrated circuit
- 1961 Unmanned Mercury test explodes on launch pad
- 1962 Cleve sends Harry Chiti to Mets for a player to be named later, on June 15 the Mets send Chiti back to Cleveland
- 1962 Lion & Tiger Veldt at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is dedicated
- 1962 US Ranger spacecraft crash lands on Moon
- 1962 US resumes above ground nuclear testing, at Christmas Island
- 1964 Stanley Cup: Toronto Maple Leafs beat Detroit Red Wings, 4 games to 3
- 1964 "New Phil Silvers Show" last airs on CBS-TV
- 1964 11th National Film Awards (India): "Shehar Aur Sapna" wins the Golden Lotus
- 1965 19th NBA Championship: Boston Celtics beat LA Lakers, 4 games to 1
- 1965 Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Pensacola Golf Invitational
- 1966 Drunk driver kills 10 children in Asse, Belgium
- 1967 Abortion legalized in Colorado
- 1967 Britain grants internal self-government to Swaziland
- 1967 Jules Feiffer's "Little Murders" premieres in NYC
- 1968 "Half a Sixpence" opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 512 performances
- 1969 5,400th & last episode of BBC Radio serial "The Dales" (formerly "Mrs Dale's Diary" )
- 1970 "Park" closes at John Golden Theater NYC after 5 performances
- 1970 Freda Payne releases "Band of Gold"
- 1970 Melanie (Safka) releases "Lay Down"
- 1971 About 200,000 anti-Vietnam War protesters march on Washington, D.C.
- 1971 Sandra Haynie wins LPGA Burdine's Golf Invitational
- 1971 US canal rights in Nicaragua & rights to Corn Islands expire
- 1971 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1971 The Northern Ireland census is held
- 1972 Hans-Werner Grosse glides 907.7 miles (1,461 km) in an AS-W-12
- 1973 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Event of Interest
1974 Günter Guillaume, an aide to West German Chancellor Willy Brandt, is exposed as a Stasi spy (East German secret service)
Willy Brandt
- 1974 Leo Tindemans forms Belgium government
- 1974 Portuguese Prime Minister Marcello Caetano is overthrown in the Carnation revolution, bringing Portugal's authoritarian Estado Novo (New State) government to an end
- 1974 NFL moves goal posts & adopts sudden-death playoff
- 1975 1st Boeing Jetfoil revenue service, Hong Kong to Macao
Election of Interest
1975 Mário Soares' Socialist Party wins Portugal's first free election since 1925 following the Carnation Revolution of 1974
Mário Soares
- 1975 USSR performs underground nuclear test
- 1975 West German embassy blown up in Stockholm, Sweden
- 1976 Elections in Vietnam for a National Assembly to reunite the country
- 1976 India all out for 97 v West Indies
- 1976 Jan Stephenson wins LPGA Birmingham Golf Classic
- 1976 Portugal adopts new constitution
- 1976 Cub centerfielder Rick Monday rescues US flag from 2 fans trying to set it on fire
- 1977 Cincinnati Reds tie record of 12 runs in 5th inning beating Braves 23-9
- 1977 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1978 Phillie Phanatic makes 1st appearance
- 1978 Supreme Court rules pension plans can't require women to pay more
- 1978 ABC premiere of crime drama "Vega$"
- 1979 Peace treaty between Israel & Egypt goes into effect
- 1980 A's manager Billy Martin restrained by umpires from attacking a fan
Event of Interest
1980 Announcement of US hostage rescue bungle in Iran
Jimmy Carter
- 1980 Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by Wayne Webb
- 1980 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1981 Mariners mgr Maury Wills is suspended for 2 games after ordering Seattle's grounds crew to enlarge batter's boxes by one foot
- 1981 More than 100 workers are exposed to radiation during repairs of a nuclear power plant in Tsuruga, Japan
- 1982 Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1982 In accordance with Camp David, Israel completes Sinai withdrawal
- 1982 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1982 Yanks fire manager Bob Lemon & replaces him with Gene Michael
- 1983 "Nightline" expands from ½ hour to a full hour
- 1983 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
- 1983 Portugal's Mário Soares' Partido Socialista wins parliamentary election
Event of Interest
1983 Yuri Andropov invites US schoolgirl Samantha Smith to the Soviet Union
Yuri Andropov
Event of Interest
1985 For 2nd time, Wayne Gretzky, scores 7 points in a Cup game (3 goals, 4 assists)
Wayne Gretzky
Music Premiere
1985 Roger Miller's musical "Big River" premieres in NYC
Roger Miller
- 1985 West German Parliament ruled it illegal to deny the holocaust
- 1986 ETA bomb attacks Madrid killing 5
- 1986 Mswati III is crowned King of Swaziland, succeeding his father Sobhuza II.
- 1988 "Nightline" goes on location to Jerusalem Israel
- 1988 John Demjanjuk (Ivan the Terrible), sentenced to death in Jerusalem
- 1988 NASA launches space vehicle S-211
- 1989 Penguin Mario Lemuix ties NHL playoff record of 4 goals in 1st period
- 1990 25th Academy of Country Music Awards: George Strait, Clint Black, and Kathy Mattea win
- 1990 Hubble space telescope is placed into orbit by shuttle Discovery
- 1990 Violeta Barrios de Chamorro begins a 6-year term as Nicaragua's president
- 1990 Hong Kong actress Carina Lau is abducted by Triad members
- 1991 "Grand Hotel" closes at Beck Theater NYC after 1018 performances
- 1991 Lisa Olson brings suit against NFL NE Patriots for sexual harassment
- 1991 Lucy Simon & Marsha Norman's musical premieres in NYC
- 1991 Iraq announces it expects to resume crude oil and product exports by July
- 1992 "Shimada" closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 4 performances
- 1992 Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by Marc McDowell
- 1993 "Blood Brothers" opens at Music Box Theater NYC for 839 performances
Election of Interest
1993 Russia elects Boris Yeltsin leader
Boris Yeltsin
- 1993 NFL Draft: Washington State quarterback Drew Bledsoe first pick by New England Patriots
- 1994 14" of snow in Southern California
- 1994 Bomb attack on taxi stand in Johannesburg, 10 killed
- 1994 Fishing boat with school children capsize at Lanaka Syria, 46 killed
- 1994 King Azlan Shah of Malaysia resigns
- 1994 Mexican businessman & billionaire Angel Losada kidnapped
- 1994 Tsutomu Hata elected premier of Japan
- 1995 "Month in the Country" opens at Roundabout Theater NYC for 79 performances
- 1996 "Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk" opens at Ambassador Theater NYC
- 1997 Seattle Mariner Ken Griffey Jr hits his 250th HR
- 2005 Final piece of the Obelisk of Axum is returned to Ethiopia after being stolen by the invading Italian army in 1937
- 2005 Bulgaria and Romania sign accession treaties to join the European Union
- 2005 107 die in Amagasaki rail crash in Japan
- 2007 Boris Yeltsin's funeral - the first to be sanctioned by the Russian Orthodox Church for a head of state since the funeral of Emperor Alexander III in 1894.
Event of Interest
2009 Elijah Wood is honored with the Midnight Award by the San Francisco International Film Festival
Elijah Wood
- 2009 NFL Draft: Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford first pick by Detroit Lions
- 2011 At least 300 people killed in deadliest tornado outbreak in the Southern United States since the 1974 Super Outbreak.
- 2012 The United Kingdom dips back into recession after the economy shrank 0.2% in the first quarter of 2012
- 2013 The United Kingdom reopens its embassy in Somalia after 22 years
- 2013 NFL Draft: Central Michigan offensive tackle Eric Fisher first pick by Kansas City Chiefs
- 2013 38 people are killed in a psychiatric hospital fire in Ramensky, Russia
- 2015 100 year anniversary of the Gallipoli Peninsula landings in Turkey by ANZAC forces during WWI
- 2015 7.8-magnitude earthquake near Kathmandu in Nepal, killing 8000, leaving over 100,000 homeless, destroying many historic sites
- 2018 Indian religious leader Asaram Bapu is sentenced to life for raping a 16-year old girl
- 2018 Danish inventor Peter Madsen found guilty of killing and desecrating body of journalist Kim Wall aboard submarine, sentenced to life imprisonment