Events in History
Victory in Battle
324 Battle of Adrianople: Roman Emperor Constantine I defeats his co-emperor Licinius, who flees to Byzantium
Constantine the Great
- 987 Hugh Capet (Hugh the Great) crowned King of the Franks
- 1090 Battle at Hagenoorde: German emperor beats earl Egbert II
Battle of Fariskur
1250 Louis IX of France is captured by Baibars' Mamluk army at the Battle of Fariskur while he is in Egypt conducting the Seventh Crusade; he later has to ransom himself
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- 1428 Treaty of Delft between Jacoba of Bavaria & Philip the Good of Burgundy
Event of Interest
1608 Samuel de Champlain founds city of Quebec
Samuel de Champlain
- 1630 Emperor Ferdinand II opens German Parliament
Event of Interest
1661 Portugal gives Tangier and Bombay to English King Charles II
Charles II
- 1720 Sweden and Denmark sign peace treaty
Victory in Battle
1754 George Washington surrenders to French, Fort Necessity (7 Years' War)
George Washington
- 1767 Pitcairn Island is discovered by Midshipman Robert Pitcairn on an expeditionary voyage commanded by Philip Carteret
- 1767 Norway's oldest newspaper still in print, Adresseavisen, is founded (first edition published this date)
- 1775 George Washington takes command of Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts
- 1778 British forces massacre 360 men, women and children in Wyoming, Pennsylvania
- 1778 Prussia declares war on Austria
- 1806 Michael Keens exhibits 1st large-scale cultivated strawberry—a large fruit strawberry, called the Keen Seedling
- 1814 Americans capture Fort Erie, Canada (War of 1812)
- 1819 1st savings bank in US (Bank of Savings in NYC) opens its doors
- 1839 1st state normal school in US opens, Lexington, Massachusetts, with 3 students
- 1841 John Couch Adams decides to determine position of an unknown planet by irregularities it causes in the motion of Uranus
- 1844 The last pair of Great Auks is killed.
Event of Interest
1845 Pioneering French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin opens his magic theatre in Paris
Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin
- 1848 Slaves freed in Danish West Indies (now US Virgin Islands)
- 1849 The French enter Rome in order to restore Pope Pius IX to power; proves a major obstacle to Italian unification
- 1852 Congress authorizes US's 2nd mint (San Francisco, California)
- 1861 Colonel Jackson receives his commission as brigadier general
- 1861 Pony Express arrives in San Francisco with overland letters from NY
- 1861 Martinsburg, Virginia - Confederate forces pull out before US advance
- 1863 Battle of Donaldsonville, Louisiana
- 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, largest battle ever fought on the American continent, ends in a major victory for the Union during the US Civil War
- 1864 Battle of Chattahoochie River, Georia [until Jul 9]
- 1864 Harpers Ferry, West Virginia - Federals evacuate in face of Early's advance
Event of Interest
1871 Jesse James robs bank in Corydon, Iowa ($45,000)
Jesse James
- 1890 Idaho admitted as 43rd US state
- 1890 King Leopold II gives Congo, previously a private possession, to Belgium
- 1898 American troops, en route to the Philippines on the SS China, raise the American flag on Wake Island
- 1898 Dutch Automobile Club forms (KNAC)
- 1898 Joshua Slocum completes 1st solo circumnavigation of the globe
- 1898 US Navy defeats Spanish fleet in Santiago harbor, Cuba
- 1900 Trying to stem the growing popular resentment, Tsar Nicholas of Russia issues a decree that abolishes the banishment of dissidents and troublemakers to Siberia
- 1900 The British evacuate Rustenburg and occupy Commando Nek and Silkaatsnek in the Anglo-Boer war
- 1905 Kuyper government forms in Holland
- 1907 Pope decree forbids modernization of theology
- 1908 Indian nationalist Bal Gangadhar Tilak arrested for sedition by the British in wake of Muzzafarpur bombing
- 1913 Common tern banded in Maine; found dead in 1919 in Africa (1st bird known to have crossed the Atlantic)
- 1913 Confederate veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913 reenact Pickett's Charge; upon reaching the high-water mark of the Confederacy they are met by the outstretched hands of friendship from Union survivors
- 1915 After exploding a bomb in US Senate reception room previous day, Erich Muenter, a German instructor at Cornell University, shoots JP Morgan for representing the British government in war contract negotiations
- 1917 Spontaneous demonstration at Tauride Palace, Petrograd
- 1918 SDAP'er Suze Groenweg elected 1st woman in Dutch parliament
- 1920 Java Technical School, Bandung, opens
- 1920 Royal Air Force holds an air display at Hendon, England
Conference of Interest
1922 Intergovernmental Conference on Identity Certificates for Russian Refugees, convened by Fridtjof Nansen in Geneva, creates the Nansen passports (for stateless persons)
Fridtjof Nansen
Battle of Interest
1938 President Franklin Roosevelt dedicates the Eternal Light Peace Memorial and lights the eternal flame at Gettysburg Battlefield.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Historic Invention
1939 Ernst Heinkel demonstrates 800 kph (500 mph) rocket plane to Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
- 1940 ARP-leader/ex-premier Colijn argues cooperation with Germany
- 1940 British Royal Navy damages the French fleet in Mers-el-Kebir, Algeria, to prevent Germany seizing it
- 1940 German occupiers forbid using Dutch royal names
- 1942 German troops march into Sebastopol, Crimea
- 1942 Adolf Hitler visits Field Marshal Von Bock's headquarters in Ukraine
- 1943 Liberator bombers sinks U-628
- 1944 US V-III-E Army corp opens assault on Coutances Cotentin
Event of Interest
1945 James F. Byrnes becomes 49th US Secretary of State, succeeding Edward Stettinius
James F. Byrnes
- 1946 1st Dutch government of Beel forms
- 1946 The Cape Passive Resistance Council is formed at a mass meeting in Cape Town, attended by 1,500 people
- 1947 252,288 people (record) pass through Grand Central Station, NYC
- 1947 Soviet Union doesn't participate in Marshall Plan
- 1948 Kidnapper Caryl Chessman sentenced to death, California; execution dosn't happen until 1960
- 1952 Puerto Rico's constitution approved by US Congress
- 1962 Algerian Revolution against French rule ends (Algeria gains independence on 5th July)
- 1963 In New Zealand, a National Airways Corporation Dakota DC-3 crashes in the Kaimai Ranges; all 23 passengers and crew are killed in New Zealand’s worst internal civil aviation accident
- 1965 USSR and Persia sign dam building and economic aid pact
- 1965 Harold Strachan, member of the Communist Party of South Africa and Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress, is served with a restriction order in terms of the Suppression of Communism Act
- 1966 Race riots in Omaha Nebraska
- 1967 "News at 10" premieres on British TV
- 1968 41°F lowest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland in July
- 1968 As part of a series of protests against housing conditions in Derry, the Derry Housing Action Committee (DHAC) hold a sit-down protest on the newly opened second deck of the Craigavon Bridge in the city, Northern Ireland
- 1969 Soviet N1 rocket explodes just after launch off at Baikonur Cosmodrome - one of the largest-ever non-nuclear human-made explosion, debris spread over 10 km
- 1970 British aircraft crashes at Barcelona, 112 killed
- 1970 The British Army impose curfew on Falls Road area of Belfast as they search for weapons; coming under attack from the Official IRA (OIRA) and republican rioters
- 1972 Themba Sono is forced to resign as president of South African Student Organisation (SASO)
- 1972 The Ulster Defence Association and the British Army come into conflict about a 'no-go' area at Ainsworth Avenue, Belfast
- 1973 General Walters, serves as acting director of CIA
- 1974 Soyuz 14 carries 2 cosmonauts to space station Salyut 3
- 1976 Adolfo Suárez becomes premier of Spain
- 1977 The Senegalese Republican Movement (MRS) is founded
- 1977 Triple Crown champion Seattle Slew's 9-race win streak ends in the Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park, finishes 4th
- 1978 US Supreme Court rules 5-4, FCC had a right to reprimand NY radio station WBAI for broadcasting George Carlin's "Filthy Words"
- 1981 NYC transit fare rises from 60 cents to 75 cents, new brass Y-cut-out token
- 1983 American Calvin Smith sets new world record of 9.93 for 100m in Colorado Springs, beats Jim Hines 1968 mark by 0.02 seconds
- 1984 Dolphin rocket launched off San Clemente Island
Birthdays in History
Samuel de Champlain
1567 Samuel de Champlain, French explorer (Lake Champlain), born in Hiers-Brouage or La Rochelle, France (d. 1635)
Samuel de Champlain
- 1676 Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, Prussian field marshal, born in Dessau, Anhalt-Dessau (d. 1747)
- 1683 Edward Young, English poet (Revenge, Complaint), born in Upham, Winchester, England (d. 1765)
- 1685 Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet, British cavalry officer, born in Roos Hall, Beccles, England (d. 1768)
- 1687 Arnold Hoogvliet, Dutch poet (Abraham the Patriarch), born in Vlaardingen, Netherlands (d.1763)
- 1728 Robert Adam, Scottish architect and designer (Adelphi Terrace, London), born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland (d. 1792)
- 1731 Samuel Huntington, American politician and signer of the Declaration of Independence, born in Windham, Connecticut (d. 1796)
- 1738 John Singleton Copley, American painter of portraits and historical objects, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1815)
- 1743 Sophia Magdalena of Denmark, Queen consort of Sweden, born in Christiansborg Palace, Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 1813)
- 1794 Eberhard Friedrich Walcker, German organ builder (Paulskirche Frankfurt), born in Bad Cannstatt, Stuttgart, Germany (d. 1872)
- 1796 Nikoli A Poveloi, Russian writer/publisher (Sotsjinenija) [NS]
- 1828 John Austin Wharton, American lawyer and Major General (Confederate Army), born in Nashville, Tennessee (d. 1865)
- 1860 Charlotte Perkins Gilman, American feminist, writer and lecturer for social reform, born in Hartford, Connecticut (d. 1935)
- 1866 Albert Gottschalk, Danish painter, born in Stege, Møn, Denmark (d. 1906)
Richard Bedford Bennett
1870 Richard Bedford Bennett, 11th Prime Minister of Canada (C: 1930-35), born in Hopewell Hill, New Brunswick (d. 1947)
Richard Bedford Bennett
- 1871 William Henry Davies, Welsh poet (Autobiography of a Super Tramp), born in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales (d. 1940)
- 1872 Habibullah Khan, Emir of Afghanistan (1901-19), born in Samarkand, Uzbekistan (d. 1919)
- 1874 Āpirana Ngata, Māori New Zealand politician and lawyer known for promoting and protecting Māori culture and language, born in Te Araroa, New Zealand (d. 1950)
- 1875 Ernst Ferdinand Sauerbruch, German Nazi surgeon, born in Barmen, German Empire (d. 1951)
- 1879 Alfred Korzybski, Polish-American scientist and philosopher, born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 1950)
Franz Kafka
1883 Franz Kafka, Czech author (Metamorphosis, Trial, Amerika), born in Prague, Austria-Hungary (d. 1924)
Franz Kafka
- 1884 Moses Leverock Crossley, Dutch bio-chemist, born in Saba, Dutch West Indies
- 1886 Raymond A Spruance, U.S. Navy admiral (Battle of Midway), born in Baltimore, Maryland (d. 1969)
- 1906 Francis Steegmuller, American biographer (Cocteau), born in New Haven, Connecticut (d. 1994)
- 1906 F. Gwendolen Rees, Welsh zoologist and parasitologist, born in Abercynon, Wales (d. 1994)
- 1907 Arthur Steel, Dutch architect (Group '32)
- 1908 Thomas Narcejac, French writer (Vertigo), born in Rochefort-sur-Mer, France (d. 1998)
- 1908 M. F. K. Fisher, American cook book author, born in Albion, Michigan (d. 1992)
- 1908 Robert B. Meyner, American politician (44th Governor of New Jersey), born in Easton, Pennsylvania (d. 1990)
- 1909 Earl Butz, 18th U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (1971-76), born in Albion, Indiana (d. 2008)
- 1909 Lucy Kroll, American talent agent, born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1997)
- 1909 Stavros Niarchos, Greek shipping magnate (Those Fabulous Greeks), born in Athens, Greece (d. 1996)
- 1910 Bernard Burrows, British diplomat (d. 2002)
- 1910 Eric Franklin, Indian civil servant
- 1912 Edward Jones, Northern Irish lord justice of appeals (d. 1993)
- 1913 Hugh Stirling Mackenzie, British Royal Navy officer, born in Inverness, Scotland (d. 1996)
- 1913 William Deakin, British historian and warden (St Anthony's College Oxford), born in London (d. 2005)
- 1918 Fred Mulley, British Labour politician, born in Leamington Spa, England (d. 1995)
- 1920 Louise Allbritton, American actress (The Egg and I, Stage Door, Got a Secret), born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (d. 1979)
- 1922 Corneille [Cornelis G of Beverloo], Dutch painter (Africa, Antilles), born in Liege, Belgium (d. 2010)
- 1922 François Reichenbach, French director (La douceur du Village), born in Paris (d. 1993)
- 1922 Tom Hudson, British artist and teacher, born in Horden, County Durham, England (d. 1997)
- 1923 Sue Ryder, Baroness Ryder of Warsaw & Cavendish, British volunteer with Special Operations Executive in the Second World War, born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England (d. 2000)
- 1923 Bankole Timothy, Sierra Leonean journalist, born in Sierra Leone (d. 1994)
- 1923 William Mills, painter (d. 1997)
- 1924 Geoffrey Sammons, senior partner (Allen & Overy)
- 1924 S. R. [Sellapan Ramanathan] Nathan, 6th President of Singapore (1999-2011), born in Singapore (d. 2016)
- 1925 Michael Oliver, British cardiologist (linked cholesterol with coronary artery disease), born in Borth, Wales (d. 2015)
- 1926 Joseph M. Gaydos, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania), born in Braddock, Pennsylvania (d. 2015)
- 1926 William Roll, German poltergeist researcher and parapsychologist (The Poltergeist, Unsolved Mysteries), born in Bremen, Germany (d. 2012)
- 1927 William MacMillan, Moderator of the General Assembly of Church of Scotland, born in Keith, Moray, Scotland (d. 2002)
- 1928 Evelyn Anthony, English historical writer (Poellenberg Inheritance), born in London (d. 2018)
- 1928 Günter Bruno Fuchs, German writer, poet and artist, born in Berlin (d. 1977)
- 1928 John Wills, Lord-Lieutenant of Avon 1974-96, born in Bristol (d. 1998)
- 1929 Eustace Gibbs, 3rd Baron Wraxall, British diplomat and vice marshal (Diplomatic Corps) (d. 2017)
- 1931 Andres Burnier [Catharina Irma Dessaur], Dutch criminologist and author (Jongensuur), born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 2002)
- 1933 Edward Brandt Jr., American physician and public health official, born in Oklahoma (d. 2007)
- 1934 Manfred Bieler, German writer (The Rabbit is Me), born in Zerbst, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany (d. 2002)
- 1935 Harrison Schmitt, American geologist and astronaut (Apollo 17), born in Santa Rita, New Mexico
- 1935 John Swan, 4th Premier of Bermuda (1982-95), born in Bermuda
- 1936 Anthony Lester, British barrister and Member of the House of Lords
Tom Stoppard
1937 Tom Stoppard, Czech-born British playwright (Rosencrantz & Guildenstern-1968 Tony), born in Zlín, Czechoslovakia
Tom Stoppard
- 1939 Jay Tarses, American actor and writer (Open All Night, Duck Factory), born in Baltimore, Maryland
- 1940 Lamar Alexander, American politician (U.S. Senator from Tennessee), born in Maryville, Tennessee
- 1941 Gloria Allred, American feminist and civil rights attorney, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 1941 Wylie Walker Vale, American endocrinologist who discovered the stress hormone, born in Houston, Texas (d. 2012)
- 1943 Norman Thagard, American scientist and astronaut (STS 7, 51-B, 30, 42, 71, Mir), born in Marianna, Florida
- 1945 Michael Martin, British politician and Speaker of the House of Commons (2000-09), born in Glasgow (d. 2018)
- 1946 Michael Shea, American sci-fi author (World Fantasy Award: Nifft the Lean, Growlimb), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2014)
- 1948 Tarmo Koivisto, Finnish comics artist (Mämmilä), born in Orivesi, Finland
- 1950 James Hahn, American politician and incumbent judge on the Los Angeles County Superior Court, born in Los Angeles, California
Jean-Claude Duvalier
1951 Jean-Claude Duvalier "Baby Doc", Haitian dictator and deposed Haitian president-for-life (1971-86) infamous for his brutality, born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti (d. 2014)
Jean-Claude Duvalier
- 1953 Alynne Amkraut, American entertainer, born in Amityville, New York
- 1956 Montel Williams, American TV talk show host (Montel), born in Baltimore, Maryland
- 1956 Vincent Margera "Don Vito", American reality TV Viva La Bam castmember, born in Chester, Pennsylvania
- 1958 Matthew Fraser, Canadian-British journalist, born in Toronto, Ontario
- 1963 Tracey Emin, English artist (Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995), born in Croydon, England
- 1964 Joanne Harris, British author (Chocolat), born in Barnsley, Yorkshire, England
Julian Assange
1971 Julian Assange, Australian founder of Wikileaks, born in Townsville, Queensland
Julian Assange
- 1976 Wanderlei Silva, Brazilian mixed martial artist
Weddings in History
- 1468 Charles the Stout, Duke of Burgundy marries Princess Margaret of York
Wedding of Interest
1951 Author Maya Angelou (23) weds Thomas J. Angelos
Maya Angelou
- 1960 Vernon Presley (father of Elvis) weds Dee Alliot
Wedding of Interest
1992 Gary Dell'Abate (Howard Stern Show) marries Mary
Howard Stern
Divorces in History
- 1929 American Playwright Eugene O'Neill divorces second wife novelist Agnes Boulton after 11 years of marriage
Deaths in History
- 1090 Egbert II van Brunswick, Fries count, dies in battle
- 1570 Antonio Paleario, Italian humanist, executed by inquisition at 67
- 1642 Maria de' Medici, French queen-mother, dies at about 69
- 1672 Francis Willughby, English ornithologist and ichthyologist, dies at 36
- 1704 Sophia Alekseyevna, Regent of Russia (1682-89), dies at 46
- 1741 Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine, Queen consort of Sardinia (1737-41), dies at 29
- 1749 William Jones, Welsh mathematician (b. 1675)
- 1775 Colonel Thomas Gardner, American heroic political figure and soldier, dies at 51
- 1778 Anna Maria Pertl Mozart, mother of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (b. 1720)
- 1795 Louis-Georges de Bréquigny, French historian (b. 1714)
- 1795 Antonio de Ulloa, Spanish general and governor of Louisiana (b. 1716)
- 1858 Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov, Russian painter (b. 1806)
- 1862 William Barksdale, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies in battle at 40
- 1863 Alonzo Hersford Cushing, US Union lt, dies in battle at about 22
- 1863 Lewis Addison Armistead, Confederate brigadier general Gettysburg/dies in battle at 46
- 1863 Little Crow, [Ta-oya-te-duta], Santee Sioux indian chief, dies
- 1863 Richard Brooke Garnett, US Confederate Brigadier General, dies in battle at 45
- 1863 Samuel Kosciuzko Zook, US Union general-major, dies in battle at 40
- 1863 Richard B. Garnett, American Confederate Brigadier General, killed during Pickett's Charge, Battle of Gettysburg at 45
- 1863 George Hull Ward, American general and Union officer in the American Civil War, dies at 37
- 1863 Elon John Farnsworth, American Brigadier General (Union Army), dies at 25
- 1868 Lafayette Curry Baker, American investigator spy and Brigadier General (Union Army), dies at 41
- 1890 Gilman Marston, American Brigadier General (Union Army) and politician (R-NH), dies at 78
- 1904 Theodor Herzl, Austrian journalist and founder (Zionist movement), dies at 44
- 1904 Edouard Beaupré, Canadian giant and strongman (b. 1881)
- 1908 Joel Chandler Harris, American writer (created Uncle Remus stories), dies at 59
- 1910 Julius Slabbe, Belgian writer, dies
- 1912 Robert Hoke, American Major General (Confederate Army), dies at 75
Hetty Green
1916 Henrietta "Hetty" Green, American businesswoman and financier whose wealth and miserliness saw her known as the "Witch of Wall Street", dies of a stroke at 81
Hetty Green
Hipólito Yrigoyen
1933 Hipólito Yrigoyen, President of Argentina (1916-22, 1928-30), dies at 80
Hipólito Yrigoyen
- 1934 Henry WAE, Prince of Netherlands/father of Queen Juliana, dies
- 1934 Hendrik Vladimir Albrecht Ernst, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Prince consort of the Netherlands (1901-34), dies at 58
- 1935 André Citroën, French automobile pioneer (b. 1878)
- 1942 Louis Franchet d'Espèrey, French general during WWI, dies at 86
- 1948 Adrien H Gerhard, Dutch SDAP-politician, dies at 90
- 1954 Siegfried Handloser, German physician (b. 1895)
- 1965 Trigger, horse (Roy Rogers), dies at 25
- 1966 Kees Boeke, Dutch reformist educator (Cosmic View), dies at 81
- 1970 Frances Parkinson Keyes, American novelist (Dinner at Antoine's), dies at 84
- 1974 John Crowe Ransom, American poet and critic (God Without Thunder), dies at 86
- 1977 Mohammed al-Zahaby, Egyptian minister, murdered
- 1983 John Fleming (Jack) Brock, South African nutritional scientist, physician and a professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Cape Town, dies at 78
- 1984 Raoul Salan, French Army general and leader of OAS; Secret Army Organization (Algeria), dies at 85
- 1989 Andrei Gromyko, Soviet politician (President of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), dies just short of his 80th birthday
- 1990 Ludi Claire Hugo, entertainer, dies at 70
- 1990 Maurice Girodias, French publisher and founder (Olympia Press), dies at 71
- 1992 Arline Bletcher, entertainer, dies of natural causes at 99
- 1992 Marc Tannenbaum, rabbi (only Jew to attend Vatican II), dies at 66
- 1994 Felix Kelly, New Zealand-born British artist, dies at 80
- 1994 Harry Ebbeling, PC-corrector, dies at 54
- 1994 Pieter Hennipman, Dutch economist, dies at 85
- 1995 Bert Hardy, English photographer (Picture Post), dies at 82
- 1995 Gil Wolman, French artist, dies at 65
- 1998 Danielle Bunten Berry, American software developer (b. 1949)
- 2001 Mordecai Richler, Canadian author (b. 1931)
- 2003 Gaetano Alibrandi, Papal diplomat (b. 1914)
- 2003 Sir Charles Henderson Tidbury, British brewing executive, former chairman (Whitbread & Company), dies at 77
- 2004 Andrian Nikolayev, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1929)
- 2005 Gaylord Nelson, American politician (b. 1916)
- 2006 Joseph Goguen, American computer scientist (professor of Computer Science at the University of California and University of Oxford), dies at 65
- 2007 Alice Timander, Swedish dentist (b. 1915)
- 2009 John A. Keel, American Fortean, television scriptwriter, author of The Mothman Prophecies (b. 1930)
- 2013 Radu Vasile, Prime Minister of Romania (1998-99), dies at 70
- 2015 Phil Walsh, Australian Rules Football wing, coach (Adelaide Crows), dies - murdered by son at 55
- 2015 Boyd K. Packer, LDS church apostle, dies at 90
- 2017 Spencer Johnson, American author (Who Moved My Cheese?), dies of pancreatic cancer at 78
- 2020 Emily Howell Warner, American pilot, 1st woman to captain a commercial American airline plane, dies at 80