- 1085 Alfonso VI of León and Castile captures the Muslim taifa of Toledo
- 1241 1st attack on Jewish community of Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- 1420 Henry the Navigator is appointed governor of the Order of Christ
The Protestant Reformation
1521 Edict of Worms outlaws Martin Luther and his followers
Victory in Battle
1632 Albrecht von Wallenstein recaptures Prague on Saksen
- 1659 Richard Cromwell resigns as Lord Protector of England, earning the nickname "Tumbledown Dick" as a result of his abrupt fall from power
Historic Event
1660 King Charles II of England lands at Dover harbour
- 1716 Great Britain and Holy Roman Empire sign the Treaty of Westminster, a defensive pact [1]
- 1720 The Ship "Le Grand St Antoine" reaches Marseille, bringing Europe's last major plague outbreak. Kills around 100,000.
- 1721 John Copson becomes America's 1st insurance agent
- 1738 A treaty between Pennsylvania and Maryland ends the Conojocular War with settlement of a boundary dispute and exchange of prisoners.
- 1784 Jews are expelled from Warsaw by Marshall Mniszek
Historic Event
1787 Constitutional convention opens at Philadelphia, George Washington presiding
Historic Publication
1816 Collection of poems by Samuel Taylor Coleridge published by John Murray in London, including "Kubla Khan" and "Christabel"
Historic Event
1842 Christian Doppler presents his idea, now known as the Doppler Effect (through the changing colors of binary stars), to the Royal Bohemian Society, Prague
Victory in Battle
1862 First Battle of Winchester, Virginia: Stonewall Jackson's Confederate forces achieve major victory
Battle of Interest
1864 US Civil War: Battle of New Hope Church, Georgia: Major William T. Sherman's Union forces launch attack but suffers heavy losses and entrenchment on both sides [1]
Music Premiere
1878 W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan's comic opera "H.M.S. Pinafore" premieres in London, their first international success
Historic Event
1895 Oscar Wilde sentenced to 2 years imprisonment for gross indecency
- 1895 The Republic of Formosa is formed, with Tang Ching-sung as the president
- 1899 33rd Belmont: R. Clawson aboard Jean Beraud wins in 2:23
- 1900 Retired London fire master Eyre Massey Shaw aged 70 reputedly becomes oldest gold medalist in Olympics for sailing (disputed)
- 1904 38th Belmont: George Odom aboard Delhi wins in 2:06.6
- 1906 After 20 straight wins, Boston Pilgrims lose to Chicago White Sox 3-0
- 1911 Revolution in Mexico overthrows President Jose Porfirio Diaz
- 1914 British House of Commons passes the Irish Home Rule Bill
- 1915 Chicago Whales' Claude Hendrix no-hits Pittsburgh Rebels (Federal League), 10-0
- 1915 Second Battle of Ypres on the Western Front ends with 105,000 casualties
Sports History
1919 Casey Stengel releases a sparrow from under his baseball cap
Model T
1927 Henry Ford announces that he is ending production of the Model T Ford
- 1932 Goofy, aka Dippy Dawg, 1st appears in 'Mickey's Revue' by Walt Disney
Music Premiere
1934 Béla Bartók's "Cantata Profana - The Nine Enchanted Stags" premieres in London, England, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Wireless Chorus conducted by Aylmer Buesst
World Record
1935 Legendary American athlete Jesse Owens equals or breaks 4 world records in 45 minutes at a Big Ten meet at Ferry Field in Ann Arbor, Michigan; remembered as "the greatest 45 minutes ever in sport"
- 1936 The Remington Rand strike, led by the American Federation of Labor, begins
- 1937 1st airmail letter to circle globe returns to NY
- 1938 Spanish Civil War: The bombing of Alicante takes place, with 313 deaths
- 1939 Carl Storck becomes 2nd NFL president
- 1940 German troops conquer Boulogne
- 1940 Golden Gate International Exposition reopens
- 1941 5,000 drown in a storm at Ganges Delta region in India
Sports History
1941 Ted Williams raises his batting average over .400 for 1st time in 1941
Radio History
1943 Agnes Moorehead appears in "Sorry, Wrong Number" on the radio program "Suspense", her most successful appearance
- 1943 Riot at Mobile, Alabama, shipyard over upgrading 12 black workers
- 1943 Trident conference in Washington, D.C. (operation plan '43 against Japan)
PGA Championship
1948 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Norwood Hills CC: Ben Hogan scores a convincing 7 & 6 win over Mike Turnesa in the Tuesday final for his 2nd PGA crown
Execution
1948 Polish war hero Witold Pilecki is executed by communist police after a show trial in Warsaw
Sports History
1951 NY Giant Willie Mays 1st major league game (goes 0 for 5)
- 1957 "Shinbone Alley" closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 49 performances
Historic Event
1959 Russian premier Nikita Khrushchev visits Angola
- 1959 US Supreme Courtt rules Louisiana prohibiting black-white boxing unconstitutional
- 1960 George Crowe's record 11th pinch-hit HR
Historic Event
1961 NASA civilian pilot Joseph A. Walker takes X-15 to 32,770 m
- 1962 Isley Brothers release "Twist & Shout"
- 1962 US performs nuclear test at Christmas Island (atmospheric)
- 1962 US unions AFL-CIO starts campaign for 35-hour work week
- 1963 "Hot Spot" closes at Majestic Theater NYC after 43 performances
- 1963 Great Britain ends its amateur-professional classes in cricket
- 1963 Organization for African Unity formed by Chad, Mauritania and Zambia
Emmy Awards
1964 16th Emmy Awards: "The Dick Van Dyke Show", Dick Van Dyke & Mary Tyler Moore win
Theater Premiere
1964 Frank Gilroy's dramatic play "The Subject Was Roses", starring Jack Albertson and Martin Sheen, opens at Royale Theatre, NYC; runs for 832 performances; wins Pulitzer Prize, and 2 Tony Awards
- 1964 Ground is broken for new Busch Memorial Stadium in St Louis; opens in 1966, demolished in 2005
- 1964 US Supreme Court rules closing schools to avoid desegregation is unconstitutional
- 1965 Dave Davies of The Kinks knocked unconscious in an on stage scuffle with drummer Mick Avory at Cardiff’s Capital Theatre
- 1965 Fighting along the Indian and Pakistan border
Boxing Title Fight
1965 Muhammad Ali KOs Sonny Liston at 2:12 of round 1 at Central Maine Civic Center, Lewiston to retain his WBC/WBA heavyweight boxing title
- 1965 Roel van Duyn, Martijn Ananar & Rob Faado align in Provo
- 1966 "Au Hasard Balthazar", French film directed by Robert Bresson, starring Anne Wiazemsky and François Lafarge, is released
- 1966 Peru & Argentina soccer fans fight in Lima; 248 die
- 1967 European Cup Final, Estádio Nacional, Lisbon: Glasgow Celtic beats Internazionale, 2-1; first British team to win the Cup
Music History
1967 John Lennon takes delivery of his psychedelically painted Rolls Royce
- 1968 BPAA All-Star Bowling Tournament won by Jim Stefanich
- 1968 BPAA US Women's Bowling Open won by Dotty Fothergill
- 1968 Gateway Arch in St Louis dedicated
- 1968 Rolling Stones release song "Jumping Jack Flash"
- 1968 Unicorn by The Irish Rovers hits #7
Film Release
1969 "Midnight Cowboy" directed by John Schlesinger and starring Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman is released (Academy Awards Best Picture 1970)
- 1969 Sudanese government is overthrown in a military coup
- 1970 3rd ABA Championship: Indiana Pacers beat LA Stars, 4 games to 2
- 1971 The Provisional Irish Republican Army throw a time bomb into Springfield Road British Army base in Belfast, killing British Army Sergeant Michael Willetts and wounding seven officers
- 1971 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
Boxing Title Fight
1972 Heavyweight Joe Frazier KOs Ron Stander
- 1972 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1973 26th Cannes Film Festival: "The Hireling" directed by Alan Bridges and "Scarecrow" directed by Jerry Schatzberg jointly awarded the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film
Music Single
1973 George Harrison releases single "Give Me Love" in UK
- 1973 Peronist Hector Campora installed as President of Argentina
- 1973 US launches 1st Skylab crew Kerwin, Conrad, Weitz
- 1975 29th NBA Championship: Golden Warriors sweep Wash Bullets in 4 games
- 1975 Cleveland's Dennis Eckersley, debuts shutting out the A's 6-0
- 1975 Indianapolis 500: Bobby Unser wins rain-shortened race ahead of defending champion Johnny Rutherford and pole-sitter A. J. Foyt for his second Indy title
- 1977 "Beatles Live! At Star-Club in Hamburg Germany" released
Television Finale
1977 "Brady Bunch Hour" last airs on ABC-TV
- 1977 21st European Cup: Liverpool beats Borussia Monchengladbach 3-1 at Rome
- 1977 Dutch social democratic party wins parliamentary election
Film Premiere
1977 Original "Star Wars" movie (Episode IV – A New Hope), directed by George Lucas and starring Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford, premieres
- 1977 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Sports History
1978 Stanley Cup Final, Boston Garden, Boston, MA: 3-peat for Montreal Canadiens; beat Boston Bruins, 4-1 as Mario Tremblay scores twice; 4-2 series victory
- 1979 American Airlines DC-10 crashes on takeoff from Chicago killing 273 including 2 on the ground
Film Release
1979 Horror film "Alien", directed by Ridley Scott and starring Sigourney Weaver is released
- 1979 Israel begins to return Sinai to Egypt
- 1979 Raul Gonzales of Mexico completes 50,000 m walk in record 3:41:38.4
Album Release
1979 RCA releases David Bowie's 13th studio album, "Lodger"; his third collaboration with Brian Eno in what becomes known as his 'Berlin trilogy' features contributions from guitarist Adrian Belew
- 1980 "Musical Chairs" closes at Rialto Theater NYC after 15 performances
- 1980 Indianapolis 500: Johnny Rutherford wins from pole position for his third Indy victory; sixth driver to win the race three times
- 1980 Jacek Wszoka of Poland sets high jump record (7'8")
Baseball Record
1981 Boston Red Sox Carl Yastrzemski (41) is 4th to play 3,000 MLB baseball games (Cobb, Musial & Aaron)
- 1981 Daniel Goodwin scales outside of Chicago's Sears Tower in 7 hours
- 1981 Rangers' Bill Stein sets AL record with 7 consecutive pinch hits
- 1982 Ferguson Jenkins becomes 7th pitcher to strike out 3,000 batters
- 1982 Iranian troops reconquer Khorramshar
- 1982 STS-4 vehicle moves to launch pad
Music History
1983 "Return of the Jedi" (Star Wars Episode VI), produced by George Lucas first released
- 1983 1st US National Missing Children's Day is proclaimed
- 1983 27th European Cup: Hamburg beats Juventus 1-0 at Athens
- 1983 Fire in Nassermeer, Egypt, kills 357
- 1983 France performs nuclear test
- 1983 Kirk Gibson (Tigers) & Jorge Orta (Blue Jays) hit inside park HRs
- 1984 Detroit Tigers lose to Seattle 7-3 ends record tying 17 consecutive wins
- 1984 Red Sox trade pitcher Dennis Eckersley to Cubs for Bill Buckner
Sports History
1985 Allan Border scores 4th successive 1st class 100 (vs Derbyshire)
- 1985 Cyclone ravages Bangladesh; 11,000 killed
- 1986 95-year-old woman scores a hole-in-one in Florida
- 1986 Ferry boat Shamia sinks on Maghna River Bangladesh, 600 killed
- 1986 Hands Across America - 6.5 million people hold hands from California to NY
Baseball Record
1986 KC Royal George Brett gets his 2,000th hit
Election of Interest
1989 Mikhail Gorbachev elected Executive President in the Soviet Union
- 1989 Stanley Cup Final, Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec: Calgary Flames beat Montreal Canadiens, 4-2 to win series 4 games to 2; Flames' first SC title
Music Recording
1989 Weird Al Yankovic records parody song "She Drives Like Crazy"
- 1991 "People Are Still Having Sex" by LaTour hits #35
- 1991 Israel evacuates 14,000 Ethiopian Jews
- 1991 Stanley Cup Final, Metropolitan Sports Center, Bloomington, MN: Pittsburgh Penguins beat Minnesota North Stars, 8-0 for a 4-2 series win; Penguins' first Final series appearance
- 1992 NY Yankees score 9 runs before 1st out in 8th inn, beat Brewers 13-7
- 1992 Oscar Luigi Scalfaro elected President of Italy
Daytime Emmy Awards
1994 Emmy 21st Daytime Award presentation - Susan Lucci not nominated
Sports History
1994 Mark Messier scores a natural hat trick for the New York Rangers in game 6 of the NHL Eastern Conference Finals
- 1995 The Bosnian Serb Army kills 72 youngsters in the Bosnian city of Tuzla
- 1996 1st Super Rugby Final, Eden Park, Auckland: Blues win inaugural title with a 45-21 victory over the Natal Sharks; fullback Adrian Cashmore lands 3 penalties & 3 conversions for the home team
- 1996 Jennifer Maria Holsten, 18, crowned Miss Filipino-American
- 1997 A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koromah
Sports History
1997 Minnesota Twins retire Kirby Puckett's uniform #
- 1997 NHL Eastern Conference Final: Philadelphia Flyers beat New York Rangers, 4 games to 1
- 1997 Todd and Mel Stottlemyre become 1st father and son to win 100 games in Major League Baseball
- 1999 The United States House of Representatives releases the Cox Report detailing People's Republic of China's nuclear espionage against the U.S. over prior two decades
Cannes Film Festival
2000 53rd Cannes Film Festival: "Dancer in the Dark" directed by Lars von Trier and starring Björk (Best Actress) wins the Palme d'Or
Laureus Awards
2000 Laureus World Sports Awards, Monte-Carlo Sporting, Monaco: Sportsman: Tiger Woods; Sportswoman: Marion Jones (rescinded); Team: Manchester United FC
- 2000 Liberation Day of Lebanon. Israel withdraws its army from most of the Lebanese territory after 22 years of its first invasion in 1978.
- 2001 32-year-old Erik Weihenmayer, of Boulder, Colorado, becomes the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest
- 2001 54th Cannes Film Festival: "The Son's Room" directed by Nanni Moretti wins the Palme d'Or
- 2002 47th Eurovision Song Contest: Marie N for Latvia wins singing "I Wanna" in Tallinn
- 2002 A train crash in Tenga, Mozambique, kills 197 people
- 2002 China Airlines Flight 611: A Boeing 747-200 breaks apart in mid-air and plunges into the Taiwan Strait killing 225 people
- 2002 Super Rugby Final, Jade Stadium, Christchurch: Crusaders win 4th title with a 31-13 thumping of the ACT Brumbies; flyhalf Andrew Mehrtens boots 3 penalties, 2 conversions and a dropped goal for the winners
- 2003 56th Cannes Film Festival: "Elephant" directed by Gus Van Sant wins the Palme d'Or
- 2003 Indianapolis 500: French born Brazilian driver Gil de Ferran passes Penske teammate and defending champion Hélio Castroneves with 31 laps remaining for his first Indy 500 win
- 2003 Néstor Kirchner becomes President of Argentina after defeating Carlos Menem. He is the first elected President since the economic crisis.
- 2005 13th UEFA Champions League Final: Liverpool beats Milan (3-3, 3-2 on penalties)
Ostankino Tower
2007 The Ostankino Tower in Moscow catches fire for the second time
- 2008 61st Cannes Film Festival: "The Class" directed by Laurent Cantet wins the Palme d'Or
- 2008 Indianapolis 500: Scott Dixon of New Zealand wins ahead of Vítor Meira and Marco Andretti; 19th winner from pole and first victor from NZ
Sports History
2008 Senior PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Oak Hill CC: Jay Haas wins his second title in the event by 1 stroke from Germany’s Bernhard Langer
- 2009 North Korea conducts its second nuclear test while also conducting several missile tests
- 2009 Thailand’s economy shrank more than expected in the first quarter of 2009, contracting the most in a decade and plunging the nation into recession
Academy of Country Music Awards
2011 46th Academy of Country Music Awards: Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert & Brad Paisley win
Film & TV History
2011 Oprah Winfrey airs her last show, ending her twenty five year run of The Oprah Winfrey Show