- 350 Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman Emperor, entering Rome at the head of a group of gladiators.
Hernando de Soto's Expedition lands in Florida
1539 Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto claims Florida for Spain
Historic Discovery
1540 Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto crosses the Appalachian Mountains, 1st European to do so
Event of Interest
1658 Pope Alexander VII appoints François de Laval vicar apostolic in New France
Event of Interest
1781 Jack Jouett rides to warn Thomas Jefferson of British attack
- 1784 US army officially established by Congress of the Confederation
Historic Expedition
1789 Explorer Alexander Mackenzie sets out on his first expedition to the Pacific from Fort Chipewyan (finds the Arctic Ocean instead)
- 1818 Maratha Wars between British and Maratha Confederacy in India ends
- 1833 4th national black convention meets (Philadelphia)
- 1851 1st baseball uniforms worn when the NY Knickerbockers wear a uniform of straw hats, white shirts and blue long trousers
- 1856 Cullen Whipple patents a machine for making screws
- 1860 Comanche, Iowa, completely destroyed by one of a series of tornadoes
- 1861 1st American Civil War land battle: Union forces defeat the Confederacy at Philippi in modern-day West Virginia
Battle of Cold Harbor
1864 General Robert E. Lee wins his last victory of the US Civil War at the Battle of Cold Harbor
Event of Interest
1871 Jesse James & his gang robs Obocock Bank (Corydon Iowa), of $15,000
- 1876 Lacrosse introduced in Britain and Canada
- 1884 John Lynch (R-MS) chosen 1st black major-party national convention chair
- 1886 24 Christians burn to death in Namgongo, Uganda
- 1888 Baseball poem "Casey at the Bat" 1st published by the San Francisco Examiner
- 1889 The Canadian Pacific Railway is completed from coast to coast
Appointment of Interest
1896 British naval officer David Beatty is seconded to the Egyptian government and appointed second in command of the river flotilla
Cricket History
1899 W. G. Grace's last day of Test cricket aged 50 yrs 320 days
Event of Interest
1906 Belgian King Leopold II claims Congo as his private possession
- 1907 Centro Escolar University is established by Librada Avelino and Carmen de Luna in Manila, Philippines
- 1911 "Come Josephine in My Flying Machine" record by Fred Fisher and Alfred Bryan, sung by Ada Jones and Billy Murray hits #1
- 1913 Dutch 1st Chamber accepts Health laws
- 1915 Austro-German forces recapture Przemysl, a crucial city in southeastern Poland, and the entire Russian front begins to collapse
- 1916 US National Defense Act establishes Reserve Officers Training Corps
- 1918 Boston Red Sox pitcher Dutch Leonard throws his 2nd no-hitter; beats Detroit Tigers, 5-0 at Navin Field
- 1918 US Supreme Court in Hammer v. Dagenhart rules child labor laws unconstitutional
- 1919 Supreme Liberty Life Insurance Co (Chicago) - first insurance company organized by African Americans formed
- 1921 A sudden cloudburst kills 120 near Pikes Peak, Colorado
- 1924 Gila Wilderness Area established by US Forest Service
Baseball Record
1925 Baseball player Eddie Collins becomes the 6th to get 3,000 hits
- 1925 Goodyear airship "Pilgrim" is the first to have an enclosed cabin
- 1929 1st trade show at Atlantic City Convention Center (electric light)
- 1929 Chile and Peru sign the Treaty of Lima, finally resolving their border dispute from the War of the Pacific (1879–83). Chile keeps Arica and Peru regains Tacna.
French Open Women's Tennis
1929 French Championship Women's Tennis: Defending champion Helen Wills Moody beats Simonne Mathieu 6-3, 6-4
French Open Men's Tennis
1929 French Championships Men's Tennis: René Lacoste wins his 3rd French title, beating fellow Frenchman Jean Borotra 6-3, 2-6, 6-0, 2-6, 8-6
- 1930 Grover Cleveland Alexander is released by the Phillies
Baseball Record
1932 Future Baseball Hall of Fame first baseman Lou Gehrig first to hit 4 consecutive HRs in a MLB game; NY Yankees beat Philadelphia A's, 20-13 at Shibe Park
- 1932 John McGraw, who came to NY in 1902, resigns as manager of Giants
Event of Interest
1932 Paul von Hindenburg disbands German Parliament
- 1933 A's score 11 runs in 2nd, Yanks score 10 in 5th & win 17-11
- 1935 French liner SS Normandie sets Atlantic crossing record of four days, three hours and 14 minutes on her maiden voyage
- 1935 One thousand unemployed Canadian workers board freight cars in Vancouver, British Columbia, beginning a protest trek to Ottawa, Ontario
Baseball Record
1937 Josh Gibson hits a home run just 2 feet below the rim of Yankee Stadium (580' drive)
Miracle of Dunkirk
1940 Last British and French troops evacuated from Dunkirk
- 1941 Attack on telephone exchange in Schiphol
- 1941 German occupiers stamp "J" on Jewish passports
Zoot Suit Riots
1943 A mob of 60 from the Los Angeles Naval Reserve Armory beat up everyone perceived to be Hispanic, starting the week-long Zoot Suit Riots
- 1943 United Nations Relief & Rehabilitation Administration forms
- 1944 76th Belmont: G. L. Smith riding Bounding Home wins in 2:32.2
- 1944 Generals Giraud & de Gaulle reach agreement on constitution
- 1944 Nazis pull out of Rome
- 1946 1st bikini bathing suit displayed in Paris
- 1946 International Military Tribunal opens in Tokyo against 28 Japanese war criminals
- 1946 US Supreme Court rules that segregating riders by race on interstate buses violates the Interstate Commerce Clause of the US Constitution (Morgan v. Virginia)
Event of Interest
1947 British Viceroy of India Lord Mountbatten visits Pakistan
- 1948 200" (5.08 m) Hale telescope dedicated at Palomar Observatory
- 1948 Korczak Ziolkowski begins sculpture of Crazy Horse near Mt Rushmore
Music Premiere
1948 Musical "Sleepy Hollow", based on Washington Irving's novel, opens at St James Theater, NYC; runs for 12 performances
- 1949 1st African American to graduate from US Naval Academy (Wesley Anthony Brown)
- 1949 Dragnet is 1st broadcast on radio (KFI in Los Angeles)
- 1949 Georgia Neese Clark Gray becomes the 1st female Treasurer of the United States
- 1950 French Championships Men's Tennis: Budge Patty wins first of 2 Grand Sam titles that year; beats Jaroslav Drobný 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 5-7, 7-5
- 1950 French Championships Women's Tennis: Doris Hart beats fellow American Patricia Todd 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 for her 1st of 2 French singles titles
- 1950 French expedition reaches top of Himalayan peak of Annapurna in Nepal
- 1951 50th French Championships Men's Tennis: Jaroslav Drobný representing Egypt beats Eric Sturgess 6-3, 6-3, 6-3
- 1951 50th French Championships Women's Tennis: Shirley Fry beats fellow American Doris Hart 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 for her only French singles title
- 1952 Romanian communist leader Petru Groza chosen as President of the Presidium of the Great National Assembly
- 1953 KVOS TV channel 12 in Bellingham/Vancouver, WA (CBS) begins
- 1955 KLFY TV channel 10 in Lafayette, LA (CBS) begins broadcasting
Sports History
1955 Stan Musial hits his 300th HR
- 1956 3rd class travel on British Railways ends
- 1956 KGUN TV channel 9 in Tucson, AZ (ABC) begins broadcasting
- 1958 Referendum allows city to sell Chavez Ravine to the Dodgers
- 1959 1st US Air Force Academy graduation in Colorado Springs, Colorado
- 1959 European Cup Final, Stuttgart: Real Madrid beats Stade de Reims, 2-0; 4th consecutive title for Los Blancos
- 1959 Singapore adopts constitution
Historic Communication
1959 US President Eisenhower routes Canadian Prime Minister Diefenbaker a message off the Moon
- 1961 "Wildcat" closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 172 performances
- 1961 93rd Belmont: Braulio Baeza aboard Sherluck wins in 2:29.2
- 1962 Air France Boeing 707 crashes on takeoff from Paris, kills 130
Event of Interest
1962 Lee Harvey Oswald arrives by train in Oldenzaal, Netherlands
- 1962 WBKO TV channel 13 in Bowling Green, KY (ABC) begins broadcasting
- 1963 A Northwest Airlines DC-7 crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of British Columbia, killing 101
Music History
1964 Ringo Starr collapses from tonsillitis and pharyngitis, just before the Beatles embark on a World Tour
- 1965 1st US Space walk made by NASA astronaut Ed White during the Gemini 4 mission (23 minutes)
- 1965 Gemini 4 launched; 2nd US 2-man flight (McDivitt & White); mission included 1st US spacewalk
- 1966 European DX Council forms in Copenhagen (shortwave listeners)
- 1966 Gemini 9 launched; 7th US 2-man flight (Stafford & Cernan)
Belmont Stakes
1967 99th Belmont: Bill Shoemaker aboard Damascus wins in 2:28.8
#1 in the Charts
1967 Aretha Franklin's cover of the Otis Redding song "Respect" reaches #1
- 1967 French Championships Men's Tennis: Roy Emerson bests fellow Australian Tony Roche, 6-1, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 for his 12th, and final, Grand Slam title
- 1967 French Championships Women's Tennis: Local favourite Françoise Dürr beats Lesley Turner of Australia, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Assassination Attempt
1968 American radical feminist Valerie Solanas attempts to assassinate Andy Warhol by shooting him three times. She is later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and pleads guilty to "reckless assault with intent to harm", serving a 3 year sentence.
- 1968 Canada announces it will replace silver with nickel in coins
- 1968 Poor Peoples March on Washington, D.C.
- 1968 Yanks turn 21st triple-play in their history lose 4-3 to Twins
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
1969 Innovative and much loved children's picture book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle is published
- 1969 Last episode of Star Trek airs on NBC (Turnabout Intruder)
- 1970 1st artificial gene synthesized
Music History
1970 Ray Davies of The Kinks travels round trip NY-London to change 1 word in "Lola," (Coca-Cola to Cherry Cola) because of BBC commercial reference ban
- 1971 Chic Cub Ken Holtzman 2nd no-hitter beats Cincinnati Reds, 1-0
Cricket Debut
1971 Test Cricket debut of Imran Khan, v Englandl at Edgbaston (5, 0-36, 0-19)
- 1972 "Hot Rod Lincoln" by Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen hits #9
- 1972 1st female US rabbi installed, Sally J Priesand at 25
- 1972 French Open Women's Tennis: American icon Billie Jean King wins her only French singles title; beats Evonne Goolagong of Australia 6-3, 6-3
- 1973 "Smith" closes at Eden Theater, NYC, after 17 performances
- 1973 At Paris air show, Tupolev 144, a Soviet supersonic airliner ("Concorde-ski"), crashes, 15 killed
- 1973 French Open Men's Tennis: Ilie Năstase of Romania wins his second Grand Slam singles title, besting Croat player Niki Pilić of Yugoslavia, 6-3, 6-3, 6-0
Event of Interest
1974 Yitzhak Rabin replaces resigning Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, and forms a new government
- 1976 Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" goes gold
- 1976 Test Cricket debut of Mike Brearley v West Indies (0 & 17)
Magna Carta
1976 US presented with oldest known copy of Magna Carta
- 1977 Baltimore Orioles pull their 6th triple play (9-6-4-6-6 vs KC Royals)
- 1977 Belgium government of Tindemans forms
Exodus
1977 Island Records releases "Exodus", the ninth studio album by Bob Marley & the Wailers; featuring the hits, 'Jamming', 'Waiting In Vain', 'Three Little Birds' and 'One Love', it is named the best album of the century by Time Magazine in 1999
- 1977 US & Cuba talk about diplomatic relations
- 1978 Phillies Dave Johnson is 1st to hit 2 pinch hit grand slams in a year
- 1979 33rd Tony Awards: "The Elephant Man" (play) and "Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (musical) win
- 1979 Ixtoc I rig in the Gulf of Mexico blows, spilling 3 million barrels of oil in one of the worst oil spills in history
Event of Interest
1980 Crew of Soyuz 36, Valery Kubasov and Bertalan Farkas return to Earth aboard Soyuz 35
- 1980 ESPN begins televising college world series games
Event of Interest
1980 Jimmy Carter wins enough delegates for re-nomination as US President
- 1980 Mexican architect Luis Barragán is awarded architecture's Pritzker Prize at a ceremony at Dumbarton Oaks, Washington D.C.
- 1980 Micki Grant's musical "It's So Nice to Be Civilized" opens at Martin Beck Theater, NYC; runs for 8 performances
Sports History
1980 NY Mets draft Darryl Strawberry, 18, #1
Assassination Attempt
1981 Pope John Paul II released from hospital after assassination attempt
- 1982 55th National Spelling Bee: Molly Dieveney wins spelling psoriasis
- 1982 Israeli ambassador Shlomo Argov seriously wounded by Palestinians
- 1983 Prolific studio drummer Jim Gordon murders his mother, Osa Marie Gordon in North Hollywood, California. [1]
- 1984 38th Tony Awards: "The Real Thing" (play) & "La Cage aux Folles" (musical) win
LPGA Championship
1984 LPGA Championship Women's Golf, Jack Nicklaus GC: Defending champion Patty Sheehan finishes 10 strokes ahead of runners-up Pat Bradley and Beth Daniel
- 1984 Revival of musical "The Wiz" closes at Lunt Fontanne Theater, NYC, after 13 performances
Larry King Live
1985 "Larry King Live" debuts on CNN, airing each weeknight through December, 2010
Big
1988 "Big" film directed by Penny Marshall, starring Tom Hanks premieres in US
Sports History
1988 Margo Adams sues Boston Red Sox 3rd baseman Wade Boggs for palimony
Tiananmen Square Massacre
1989 Beginning of the Tiananmen Square Massacre as Chinese troops open fire on pro-democracy supporters in Beijing
- 1989 Houston Astros beat LA Dodgers, 5-4, in 22 innings (7:14:09)
- 1989 Leaking pipe in Asha, USSR, causes 2 trains to catch fire; 460 die
Sports History
1989 Nolan Ryan pitches his 2nd one-hitter this season & 11th overall
Sports History
1989 Sportscasting legend Vin Scully broadcasts 23 innings in two different cities on one day
- 1990 3rd Children's Miracle Network Telethon raises $894,560
- 1990 44th Tony Awards: "The Grapes of Wrath" (play) and "City of Angels" (musical) win
- 1991 Kuwait asks Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members to produce 800,000 bbl/d (130,000 m3/d) of oil on its behalf
- 1991 MLB Draft: East Carteret HS pitcher Brien Taylor first pick by New York Yankees
- 1991 Mount Unzen erupts in Japan, worst eruption in Japanese history
Boxing Title Fight
1991 Thomas Hearns captures WBA light heavyweight title
Music History
1992 "MTV Unplugged" broadcasts singer-songwriter Paul Simon and 11 of his band members performing in Queens, NYC
- 1992 Joan Lunden ordered to pay her ex-husband $18,000 a month support
- 1992 Landmark Australian High Court Mabo Decision: recognizes Torres Strait Islanders ownership of Murray Island, rendering terra nullius a legal fiction
- 1992 World's largest environmental summit opens in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 1993 66th National Spelling Bee: Geoff Hooper wins spelling kamikaze
- 1994 5.9 earthquake/floods SE Java (150+ killed)
- 1994 WIIZ (98.7) FM goes off the air
- 1995 1st Blockbuster Entertainment Awards held at Pantages Theatre, Hollywood
- 1995 Expos pitcher Pedro Martinez perfect game is broken up in 10th inning as San Diego's Bip Roberts leads off with a double, Mont wins 1-0
- 1998 Eschede train disaster: an ICE high speed train derails in Lower Saxony, Germany, causing 101 deaths
Tony Awards
2001 55th Tony Awards: "The Producers" (musical) and "Proof" (play) win
- 2001 Iraq announces that it will halt crude oil exports in response to the UN's resolution that extends the oil-for-food program by only 1 month, instead of the normal 6-month period
Six Feet Under
2001 TV drama "Six Feet Under" created by Alan Ball, starring Peter Krause, Michael C. Hall and Frances Conroy premieres on HBO
US Women's Golf Open
2001 US Open Women's Golf, Pine Needles Lodge & GC: Defending champion Karrie Webb of Australia repeats by 8 strokes ahead of runner-up Se Ri Pak; largest margin in 21 years
Music History
2002 "The Party at the Palace" concert commemorating Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee held at Buckingham Palace Garden in London; performers include: Queen, Annie Lennox, Tony Bennett, Tom Jones; The Corrs; Ozzy Osbourne, Brian Wilson, and Paul McCartney, among others
Sunset in St. Tropez
2003 Danielle Steel’s novel “Sunset in St. Tropez” is published
The Knight of Sainte-Hermine
2005 "The Knight of Sainte-Hermine" by Alexandre Dumas is published in France by Editions Phébus, completed by Claude Schopp, 135 years after the author's death.
Sports History
2010 Canadian sportscaster Ron MacLean saves a man from drowning in the Delaware River in Philadelphia
- 2012 Plane crash in Lagos, Nigeria, kills all 152 passengers and 40 people on the ground
- 2012 Suicide car bombing kills 15 and inures 42 people in Bauchi, Nigeria
Golf Tournament
2012 Tiger Woods claims his 73rd PGA tour victory with a 2 stroke win over Andrés Romero & Rory Sabbatini in the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village GC; equals Jack Nicklaus's record
- 2013 119 people are killed in a poultry farm fire in Jilin Province, China
- 2013 20 people, including 10 children, are killed by a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan
- 2013 US extends sanctions against Iran through its automotive industry and currency
Count Me In
2014 Dove Cameron releases single "Count Me In"
- 2014 Hashim Amla becomes the first non-white captain of the South African national cricket team
