Baseball Record
1997 Despite an AL record 19-strikeout performance by Randy Johnson, A's first baseman Mark McGwire hits a massive 538 foot home run in Oakland's 4-1 defeat of Seattle Mariners
- 1997 Melissa Drexler, 18, charged with killing her baby during her prom
- 1997 USAF reports Roswell 'space aliens' were dummies
- 1998 NBA Draft: Pacific center Michael Olowokandi first pick by Los Angeles Clippers
Music History
1999 Christie’s Auction House in New York City conducts sale of 100 of Eric Clapton’s guitars to benefit Crossroads Centre at Antigua, a drug and alcohol residential rehabilitation facility he co-founded in 1997, raising nearly $4.5M; "Brownie", a 1956 Fender Stratocaster used on the original recording of "Layla" sells for a then record $450,000
LPGA Championship
2001 LPGA Championship Women's Golf, DuPont CC: 26 year old Australian Karrie Webb becomes youngest woman to win career slam; beats runner-up Laura Diaz by 2 strokes
- 2002 The Igandu train disaster in Tanzania kills 281, the worst train accident in African history
- 2004 Capital punishment is declared unconstitutional in New York
- 2004 Christie’s Auction House in New York City conducts sale of 80 of Eric Clapton and friends' guitars to benefit Crossroads Centre at Antigua, a drug and alcohol residential rehabilitation facility he co-founded in 1997, raising over $5M; "Blackie", a 1956-57 composite Fender Stratocaster used as his primary instrument form the mid 70s until 1985 sells for a then record $959,500
- 2004 NBA Draft: Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy power forward Dwight Howard first pick by Orlando Magic
Glastonbury Festival
2005 Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, England opens: The White Stripes, and Coldplay headline; other performers include The Kaiser Chiefs, Taj Mahal, Brian Wilson, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, and Primal Scream
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
2006 "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest", directed by Gore Verbinski, starring Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom, premieres at Disneyland - becomes fastest film to gross over 1 billion
- 2007 The Angora Fire starts near South Lake Tahoe, California destroying 200+ structures in its first 48 hours
- 2009 Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, England opens: Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, and Blur headline; other performers include Fleet Foxes, Tom Jones, Spinal Tap, Lady Gaga, and The Script
Coach Babcock
2009 Mike Babcock is named head coach of Team Canada for the 2010 Winter Olympics (they would win the gold medal)
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
2010 "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse", based on the book by Stephenie Meyer, directed by David Slade, starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, premieres in Los Angeles
Sports History
2010 In the longest match in tennis history, American John Isner defeats Nicolas Mahut of France at Wimbledon after 11 hours, 5 minutes of play over 3 days
- 2010 NBA Draft: Kentucky point guard John Wall first pick by Washington Wizards
Music Concert
2010 Ringo Starr's eleventh All-Starr Band debuts in concert; members include: Rick Derringer, Edgar Winter, Gary Wright, Richard Page, Wally Palmar, and Gregg Bissonette
Appointment of Interest
2011 Italian economist Mario Draghi is confirmed as new President of the European Central Bank
- 2011 NHL Draft: Red Deer Rebels (WHL) center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins first pick by Edmonton Oilers
- 2012 Female athletes will be allowed to compete for Saudi Arabia at the Olympics for the first time
- 2013 Stanley Cup Final, TD Garden, Boston, MA: Chicago Blackhawks defeat Boston Bruins, 3-2 for 4-2 series victory; Blackhawks' 5th Championship
- 2014 Rebels in Ukraine have agreed to a ceasefire
- 2014 Sidney Crosby wins the Hart Memorial Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award for the 2014 NHL season
- 2015 Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, England opens: Kanye West, and The Who headline; other performers include Lionel Richie, Motörhead, Burt Bacharach, The Libertines, and Pharrell Williams
- 2015 Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price wins the 2014-15 Hart Trophy as the NHL's MVP
Event of Interest
2016 British Prime Minister David Cameron resigns after the UK votes to leave the EU
- 2016 NHL Draft: ZSC Lions (NLA) center Auston Matthews first pick by Toronto Maple Leafs
- 2017 UN states Yemen cholera epidemic reached 200,000 cases, with 1,300 deaths. Worst cholera outbreak anywhere in the world.
- 2017 World record for highest altitude football match ever played at 18,799ft on Mount Kilimanjaro by women's international team
Event of Interest
2018 Britain's Prince William begins a five-day tour of the Middle East visiting Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories
- 2018 Women drive for the first time in Saudi Arabia after ban is lifted
- 2019 El Salvador immigrant father and his 23-month-old daughter drown trying to cross the Rio Grande into the US with their photo causing widespread condemnation
- 2019 Greek Cypriot army officer Nicos Metaxas given seven life sentences for the murder of five women and two children in Nicosia
- 2019 Mysterious sickness affects 718 children with 152 deaths around Indian city of Muzaffarpur, previously thought due to lychee fruit but now unknown
Event of Interest
2019 US President Donald Trump imposes sanctions on Iran, targeted at Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in response to the shooting down of a US drone
- 2020 COVID-19 pandemic worsens dramatically in Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country, with 25% mortality according to the UN
COVID-19 Pandemic
2020 NY Governor Andrew Cuomo announces people arriving from nine states hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic will have to isolate for two weeks
- 2020 Russia celebrates its victory 75 years ago over Nazi Germany with huge military parade through Red Square in Moscow (delayed from May 9 due to pandemic)
- 2020 World Monetary fund predicts a deeper global recession with contraction of 4.9% (down from 3%), noting 2/3 of all countries used 11 trillion to support their economies
- 2021 Residential tower Champlain Towers South collapses at 1.30am in Surfside, Miami Beach, with 156 people missing (98 bodies eventually recovered)
- 2021 Second discovery of the remains of 761 people, mainly indigenous children announced at former Marieval Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan
Sports History
2022 American Katie Ledecky wins the 800m gold medal in 8:08.04 at the World Swimming Championships in Budapest; completes 400/800/1500m treble for unprecedented 4th time at a single worlds
- 2022 Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, England opens: Billie Eilish, Paul McCartney, and Kendrick Lamar headline; other performers include Crowded House, Robert Plant and Alison Krause, Noel Gallagher, Dianna Ross, Herbie Hancock, Billy Bragg, Angélique Kidjo, Lorde, Ziggy Marley, Suzanne Vega, and Hothouse Flowers
- 2022 US Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, eliminating constitutional right to choose abortion, in a 6-3 vote [1] [2]
- 2023 MLB Los Angeles Angels Mike Trout, Brandon Drury, and Matt Thaiss hit home runs on 3 consecutive pitches in 25-1 win over Rockies at Coor's Field in Denver, Colorado
- 2023 Opener Tammy Beaumont smashes 208 in the Ashes Test against Australia at Trent Bridge for the highest ever score by an Englishwoman in Test Cricket; Australia goes on to win by 89 runs
Event of Interest
2023 Wagner Group mercenaries led by Yevgeny Prigozhin rebel against Vladimir Putin’s government, march towards Moscow, only a last minute deal by Aleksander Lukashenko gets them to stand down and move to Belarus [1]
