- 763 BC Assyrians record a solar eclipse that will be used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history
- 923 Battle of Soissons: King Robert I of France is killed and King Charles the Simple is arrested by the supporters of Duke Rudolph of Burgundy
- 1184 Magnus V Erlingsson, King of Norway (1156–1184), dies in the Battle of Fimreite
Magna Carta
1215 King John signs Magna Carta at Runnymede, near Windsor, England
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- 1219 King Valdemar brought victory for Denmark
Dannebrog - World's Oldest National Flag
1219 Dannebrog is the flag of Denmark and the oldest national flag in the world. According to legend, it fell from the sky during the Battle of Lyndanisse (now Tallinn) in Estonia, and turned the Danes' luck
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- 1246 Battle at Leitha: Hungary-Austrian
- 1246 With the death of Duke Frederick II, the Babenberg dynasty ends in Austria
- 1389 Battle of Kosovo; Turks defeat Serbs
- 1567 Battle at Carberry, Scotland: Protestant troops beat Earl Bothwell's army
- 1567 Republic of Genoa expels Jews from its whole territory
- 1580 Phillip II of Spain declares William the Silent to be an outlaw.
- 1643 Able Tasman returns to Batavia after discovering Tasmania
- 1667 1st fully documented human blood transfusion is performed by French physician, Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys, when a small amount of sheep blood is transfused into a 15-year old boy, who survives the procedure
- 1741 Captain Vitus Bering leaves Petropavlovsk, sailing to America
- 1762 Austria uses 1st paper currency
Event of Interest
1775 George Washington appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, the day after Congress establishes the force
George Washington
- 1785 2 French balloonists die in world's 1st fatal aviation accident
- 1802 Toussaint L'Ouverture leaves Haiti, prisoner on French ship Héros
- 1804 Twelfth Amendment to the US Constitution, establishing the procedure for electing the President and Vice President, ratified in Congress
- 1808 Joseph Bonaparte becomes King of Spain
- 1826 Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II abolishes the elite Janissary corps executing thousands for treason to make way for a more modern army
- 1834 Rioters in Safed Palestine kills many Jews
- 1836 Arkansas becomes 25th state of the Union
Historic Expedition
1842 John C. Frémont sets off from Kansas River on his first expedition of the Oregon Trail with frontierman Kit Carson as his guide
Kit Carson
Historic Invention
1844 Charles Goodyear patents the vulcanization of rubber
Charles Goodyear
- 1846 Oregon Treaty signed, setting US-British boundary at 49°N
- 1851 Jacob Fussell, Baltimore dairyman, sets up 1st ice-cream factory
- 1857 San Francisco Water Works organized
- 1859 Pig War: Ambiguity in the Oregon Treaty leads to the "Northwestern Boundary Dispute" between U.S. and British/Canadian settlers
- 1860 1st White settlement in Idaho (Franklin)
- 1861 Johnston evacuates Harpers Ferry
Event of Interest
1862 General Jeb Stuart completes his "ride around McClellan"
J.E.B. Stuart
George McClellan
Battle of Interest
1864 Battle of Petersburg begins as General Ulysses S. Grant assaults the Confederate line at the important Southern rail center of Petersburg
Ulysses S. Grant
Event of Interest
1864 Robert E. Lee's home area (Arlington, Virginia) becomes a military cemetery
Robert E. Lee
- 1866 Prussia attacks Austria
- 1867 Atlantic Cable Quartz Lode gold mine located in Montana
- 1869 World's 1st plastic Celluloid is patented by John Wesley Hyatt, Albany, NY
- 1869 Mike McCoole (US) defeats Tom Allen (England) in bare-knuckle bout
- 1871 Phoebe Couzins is 1st woman graduate of a US collegiate law school
- 1876 Sara Spencer (R) is 1st woman to address a US presidential convention
- 1876 Tsunamis after earthquake floods NE coast of Japan, kills 28,000
Event of Interest
1877 Henry Ossian Flipper becomes 1st African American to graduate from West Point Military Academy
Henry Ossian Flipper
First Moving Images
1878 World's first moving pictures caught on camera (used 12 cameras, each taking 1 picture) done to see if all 4 of a horse's hooves leave the ground
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Event of Interest
1888 Wilhelm II becomes Emperor of Germany
Wilhelm II
- 1888 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Philadelphia Cricket Club: Bertha Townsend beats defending champion Ellen Hansell 6-3, 6-5
- 1889 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Philadelphia Cricket Club: Defending champion Bertha Townsend beats Lida Voorhees 7-5, 6-2
- 1894 Phillies beat Cincinnati Reds, 21-8
- 1896 Tsunami strikes Shinto festival on beach at Sanriku, Japan; 27,000 are killed, 9,000 injured and 13,000 houses destroyed
- 1897 Liberals/social-democrats win Dutch 2nd Parliamentary election
- 1898 US House of Representatives passes resolution to annex Hawaii
- 1898 US marines attack Spanish off Guantánamo, Cuba
- 1902 Canada's Maritime Provinces switch from Eastern to Atlantic time
- 1902 Minor League's most lopsided baseball game: Corsicana 51; Texarkana 3 Justin Clark of Corsicana, Texas minors hits 8 home runs in 1 game
- 1903 The Serbian Assembly meets and elects Prince Peter Karageorgevich king
- 1904 Side-wheeler passenger paddlesteamer "General Slocum" burns in NY's East River (1,031 die)
- 1906 British Open Men's Golf, Muirfield: Scotsman James Braid successfully defends title by 4 strokes from J.H. Taylor of England; his 3rd Open victory
- 1907 The 2nd Hague Peace Conference meets in an attempt to stop the arms race; Germany resists, but conference does make important rules around the rights of neutral powers
Historic Publication
1907 Researcher George Soper publishes the results of his investigation into recent typhoid outbreaks in the New York area and announces that Mary Mallon [Typhoid Mary] is the likely source of the outbreak
Typhoid Mary
- 1908 World congress for Women's rights opens in Amsterdam
- 1909 Representatives from England, Australia and South Africa meet at Lord's and form the Imperial Cricket Conference.
- 1911 Tabulating Computing Recording Corporation (IBM) is incorporated.
- 1912 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Philadelphia CC: Mary Browne beats Eleonora Sears 6-4, 6-2 for her first of 3 straight US singles titles
- 1913 The Battle of Bud Bagsak in the Philippine concludes
- 1915 US government mints 1st $50 gold pieces, for Panama Pacific Expo
- 1916 Boys Scouts of America forms
Event of Interest
1916 Boeing Model 1 [B & W Seaplane], the 1st Boeing product, flies for the 1st time
William Boeing
- 1917 In order to calm troubled relations with Ireland, the British grant amnesty to the Prisoners taken during the Easter Rising of 1916
- 1918 1" of snow falls in Northern Pennsylvania
- 1919 1st nonstop Atlantic flight (Alcock & Brown) lands in Ireland
- 1920 De Zweef soccer team forms in Nijverdal
- 1920 African American circus workers, Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie are taken from jail and lynched by a white mob of thousands in Duluth, Minnesota
- 1921 Bessie Coleman reaches France as US 1st black pilot
- 1923 Belgium's Theunis government falls because of mine, post and railroad strike
British Golf Open
1923 British Open Men's Golf, Troon GC: Englishman Arthur Havers holes a bunker shot on 72nd hole to win his only major title, 1 stroke ahead of defending champion Walter Hagen
Walter Hagen
- 1924 1st transmission of radio Bloemendaal
Model T
1924 Ford Motor Company manufactures its 10 millionth automobile
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Event of Interest
1924 J. Edgar Hoover assumes leadership of the FBI
J. Edgar Hoover
- 1929 1st time NY curb stock exchange transacts more business than NY Exch
Event of Interest
1931 Eddie Collins & Harry Heilmann retire from baseball
Eddie Collins
- 1931 Poland and USSR sign friendship and trade treaty
- 1934 Great Smokey Mountains National Park dedicated
- 1938 1st night game at Brooklyn Ebbets Field (Reds 6, Dodgers 0) as Cincinnati Red Johnny Vander Meer hurls unprecedented 2nd consecutive no-hitter
- 1940 38 Italian Fiat bombers bomb Luc-en-Province
- 1940 Bread & flour rationed in Holland
- 1940 World War II: France surrenders to NAZI Germany, German troops occupy Paris
- 1940 Soviet Army occupies Lithuania
- 1943 Congress of racial Equality (CORE) forms
- 1944 US forces begin invasion of Saipan in Pacific
- 1945 Dutch political party ANJV established in Concert building, Amsterdam
US Golf Open
1947 US Open Men's Golf, St. Louis CC: Lew Worsham defeats Sam Snead by 1 stroke in an 18-hole playoff for his only major title
Sam Snead
- 1948 First night game at Briggs Stadium, Detroit: Tigers beat Philadelphia A's, 4-1
Event of Interest
1948 Donald Bradman is out for a duck, but Australia still manage to win the cricket test
Donald Bradman
- 1953 Browns end Yankees win streak at 18 & Browns 14-game losing streak
- 1953 NY Yankees first baseman Johnny Mize is 93rd MLB player to get 2,000 hits
- 1953 NYC Transit Authority forms
- 1953 WLFI TV channel 18 in Lafayette, IN (CBS) begins broadcasting
- 1954 Great Britain's 2 biggest steel factories nationalized
- 1954 UEFA (Union des Associations Européennes de Football) is formed in Basle, Switzerland
- 1955 Australia score 8-758 v West Indies at Kingston, their best ever
Event of Interest
1955 The Eisenhower administration stages the first annual "Operation Alert" (OPAL) exercise, an attempt to assess the USA's preparations for a nuclear attack
Dwight D. Eisenhower
- 1955 The International Olympic Committee votes to award Rome the rights to host the 1960 Summer Olympic Games
- 1957 "Ziegfeld Follies of 1957" closes at Winter Garden NYC after 123 performances
- 1957 42.01 cm (16.54") of rainfall, East St Louis, Ill (state record)
- 1957 US Open Men's Golf, Inverness Club: Dick Mayer defeats defending champion Cary Middlecoff by 7 strokes in an 18-hole playoff to win his only major title
- 1957 89th Belmont: Bill Shoemaker aboard Gallant Man wins in 2:26.6
- 1957 Yanks trade Billy Martin & Ralph Terry for Ryne Duran
- 1960 Angel Cordero wins his 1st of over 7000 horse races
'The Banality of Evil'
1960 Argentina complains to UN about Israeli illicit transfer of Eichmann
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Film Premier
1960 "The Apartment" directed by Billy Wilder and starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine premieres in New York (Academy Awards Best Picture 1961)
- 1961 Expansion Washington Senators are 30-30, latest date an expansion team will be at .500, Washington will lose their next 10 games
- 1962 Phillies score 10 runs in an inning against Reds en route to 13-8 win
- 1962 South Africa passes a bill setting death penalty for many crimes
- 1962 WWUP TV channel 10 in Sault Ste Marie, MI (CBS) begins broadcasting
- 1962 Students for a Democratic Society complete the Port Huron Statement
- 1963 "Sound of Music" closes at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC after 1443 performances
- 1963 "Sukiyaki" sung by Japanese singer Kyu Sakamoto, hits #1
- 1963 Buddy Nobles runs world record marathon (2:14:28)
Event of Interest
1963 Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion resigns
David Ben-Gurion
Ronald Reagan
Film Release
1967 "The Dirty Dozen", based on E. M. Nathanson's novel, directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine and Charles Bronson is released in the US
- 1968 "How Now, Dow Jones" closes at Lunt Fontanne NYC after 220 performances
- 1968 "I Do! I Do!" closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 561 performances
- 1968 "New Faces of 1965" closes at Booth Theater NYC after 52 performances
- 1968 15th Curtis Cup: US wins 10½-7½ at Royal County Down Golf Club (Newcastle, Northern Ireland)
Event of Interest
1968 John Lennon and Yoko Ono plant an acorn at Coventry Cathedral
Yoko Ono
John Lennon
- 1968 "Yummy Yummy Yummy" by Ohio Express hits #4
- 1969 "Hee Haw" with Roy Clark & Buck Owens premieres on CBS TV
- 1969 US Open Golf, Champions GC: Orville Moody wins only major title by 1 stroke from Al Geiberger, Bob Rosberg & Dean Beman
- 1969 Mets help their power needs by adding 1st baseman Donn Clendenon
- 1969 The Campaign for Social Justice publish a second edition of 'Northern Ireland The Plain Truth' which set out the allegations of discrimination against Catholics by Unionists in the region
LPGA Championship
1970 LPGA Championship Women's Golf, Pleasant Valley CC: Shirley Englehorn wins her only major title; beats 1967 champion Kathy Whitworth by 4 strokes in an 18-hole playoff
Kathy Whitworth
- 1971 Vernon E Jordan Jr, appointed exec director of National Urban League
- 1972 Rock fall inside Vierzy Tunnel (France) causes 2 train crash; 107 die
- 1972 West German police arrested RAF leader Ulrike Meinhof
- 1972 The Social Democratic and Labour Party meet Secretary of State for Northern Ireland W Whitelaw, to present the IRA's conditions for a meeting
- 1974 "Streak" by Ray Stevens hits #1 on UK pop chart
French Open Women's Tennis
1974 French Open Women's Tennis: American teenager Chris Evert beats Olga Morozova of Russia 6-1, 6-2 for first of a record 7 French singles titles
Chris Evert
Historic Publication
1974 "All the President's Men" by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward detailing their Watergate investigation is published by Simon and Schuster in the US
Carl Bernstein
Album Release
1974 "Back Home Again" 8th studio album by John Denver is released (Billboard Album of the Year 1975)
John Denver
French Open Men's Tennis
1975 French Open Men's Tennis: Sweden's Björn Borg retains title; beats Guillermo Vilas of Argentina 6-2, 6-3, 6-4
Björn Borg
Guillermo Vilas
- 1976 Yankees trade May, Martinez, Pagan, MacGregor & Demsey to Baltimore for Holtzman, Alexander, Grant Jackson, Elrod Henrick & Jim Freeman
- 1976 Rain out! Astrodome cancels game heavy rains make it difficult for visiting team and umpires to get through flooded streets to the stadium
- 1977 NY Mets trade Tom Seaver to Reds for Pat Zachry
- 1977 Spain's 1st free elections since 1936 (41 years)
- 1977 Wim Polak becomes mayor of Amsterdam
- 1978 Belgian government resigns
- 1978 Italy's pres Leone resigns due to Lockheed affair
- 1978 Soyuz 29 carries 2 cosmonauts to Salyut 6; they stay 139 days
- 1979 1st space shuttle SRB qualification test firing; 122 seconds
- 1980 "Fearless Frank" opens at Princess Theater NYC for 12 performances
- 1980 US Open Men's Golf, Baltusrol GC: Jack Nicklaus sets new tournament scoring record 272 (-8) to win his 4th Open title, 2 strokes ahead of Isao Aoki of Japan
- 1980 Jorge Orta of Cleveland gets 6 hits in a baseball game
- 1982 Riots in Argentina after Falklands/Malvinas defeat
- 1982 Supreme Court rules all children, regardless of citizenship, are entitled to a public education
Event of Interest
1983 Cards trade Keith Hernandez to Mets for Neil Allen & Rick Ownbey
Keith Hernandez
- 1983 Supreme Court struck down state and local restrictions on abortion
Television Premiere
1983 "Black Adder" TV comedy premieres starring Rowan Atkinson and Tony Robinson and written by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson on BBC1
Rowan Atkinson
- 1984 "Thicke Of The Night" TV Talk Show last airs in syndication
- 1984 American boxer Thomas Hearns retains WBC light middleweight title with 2 round KO of Roberto Durán of Panama at Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas; marks first time in his illustrious career Durán knocked out
- 1985 "Pryor's Place" children's show last airs on CBS-TV
- 1985 En route to Halley's Comet, USSR's Vega 2 drops lander on Venus
Boxing Title Fight
1985 Pinklon Thomas KOs Mike Weaver in 8 for heavyweight boxing title
Mike Weaver
- 1985 Russian space probe Vega 2 lands on Venus
- 1985 Rembrandt's painting Danaë is attacked by man later judged insane; he throws sulfuric acid on the canvas and cuts it twice with his knife
- 1986 US Open Men's Golf, Shinnecock Hills GC: Raymond Floyd wins his 4th and final major, 2 strokes ahead of Chip Beck and Lanny Wadkins
Pripyat: Nuclear Wasteland
1986 Pravda announces high-level Chernobyl staff fired for stupidity
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- 1987 Bettino Craxi's Socialist Party wins election in Italy
- 1987 Michael Spinks TKOs Gerry Cooney in 5 for heavyweight boxing title
- 1988 NASA launches space vehicle S-213
- 1988 Turkish premier Özal meets Greek premier Papandreou in Athens
- 1989 Baltimore Orioles pull their 9th triple play (vs Yankees)
- 1990 "Dick Tracy" with Warren Beatty & Madonna premieres
- 1991 Carolyn Tanny & Bob Trischel wed
- 1991 Climactic eruption of the Mount Pinatubo volcano in the Philippines, the second-largest volcanic eruption on Earth of the 20th century
- 1991 Birth of the first federal political party in Canada that supports Quebec nationalism, le Bloc Québécois
- 1992 1st Berlin Air Show in 60 years
- 1992 Erie Sailors (Fla Marlin farm team) 1st game beat Jamestown 6-5 in 13
