Death of Constantius II
361 Roman Emperor Constantius II dies at Mopsucrene on route to put down his general and cousin Julian, whose troops had proclaimed him Augustus
- 644 The second Muslim caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab, is injured in an assassination attempt in Medina by Lu'lu, an enslaved Persian captive. The caliph dies four days later.
Final Expulsion of Jews
1394 Enforcement of expulsion of Jews ordered by King Charles VI of France begins [1]
Peace of Étaples
1492 Peace of Étaples signed between Henry VII of England and Charles VIII of France, ending an English invasion of France and French support for the Yorkist Pretender Perkin Warbeck
Columbus Discovers Dominica
1493 Christopher Columbus first sights land on his second voyage - the island of Dominica in the Windward Islands
Act of Supremacy
1534 English Parliament passes the Act of Supremacy, making Henry VIII and all subsequent monarchs the Head of the Church of England
Drake Arrives at Ternate
1579 Francis Drake arrives at Ternate in the East Indies and makes a trade treaty with the Sultan of Ternate, buys a cargo of cloves [1]
Tarnogród Confederation
1716 Treaty signed ending the Polish civil war between the Tarnogrów confederates and Saxon forces led by Augustus II. Tsar Peter the Great's influence and support for Augustus II leads to the Silent Sejm and Russian involvement. [1]
Handel's Failed Operation
1752 George Frideric Handel undergoes an unsuccessful eye operation
Washington Disbands Continental Army
1783 George Washington orders Continental Army disbanded
- 1783 John Austin, a footpad turned murderer, is the last to be publicly hanged at London's Tyburn gallows
- 1791 Battle at Wabash: Indians assault general St Clair, 637 soldiers killed
Execution of Olympe de Gouges
1793 French playwright, journalist and feminist Olympe de Gouges is guillotined
- 1794 French troops conquer Maastricht
Adams Elected President
1796 John Adams is elected the second president of the United States of America
Battle of Vyazma
1812 French Napoleonic armies defeated at Vyazma by a Russian force commanded by General Miloradovich
- 1813 US troops under General Coffee annihilate the Red Stick Creek Indian village at Tallasseehatchee, Alabama
- 1817 First permanent bank in British North America - the Bank of Montreal founded [1]
- 1820 Cuenca (Santa Ana de los Ríos de Cuenca), Ecuador, declares independence
- 1838 The Times of India, the world's largest circulated English-language daily broadsheet newspaper, is founded as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce
- 1839 First Opium War - 2 British frigates engage several Chinese junks
- 1839 Palace of Gulhane Turkey, freedom of religion proclaimed
- 1848 Johan Thorbeckes revises the Constitution of the Netherlands
- 1856 A British fleet bombards Canton
On Translating Home
1860 Poet and critic Matthew Arnold begins his series of lectures "On Translating Home" as Oxford Professor of Poetry at Oxford University
Battle of Mentana
1867 Battle of Mentana: French and Papal State troops defeat Italian volunteers led by Giuseppe Garibaldi
- 1868 John Willis Menard from Louisiana is elected the first black US Congressman (opposition to his election means he never sits in Congress)
Grant Elected President
1868 Ulysses S. Grant (R) wins US presidential election over Horatio Seymour (D)
- 1869 Canada's Hamilton Football Club forms
- 1874 James Theodore Holly, elected bishop of Haiti
- 1883 American Old West: Self-described "Black Bart the poet" gets away with his last stagecoach robbery, but leaves an incriminating clue that eventually leads to his capture
- 1883 Race riots kill 4 blacks in Danville Virginia
- 1883 US Supreme Court decides federal courts have no jurisdiction over Native American tribal Council (Ex parte Crow Dog)
- 1885 Tacoma vigilantes drive out Chinese, burn their homes & businesses
- 1886 Friars of Tilburg arrives on Curacao
- 1888 Concertgebouw Orchestra debuts in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, under the baton of founding conductor Willem Kes
- 1889 Chaplain Ariëns founds first Roman Catholic Workers group
Coronation of Menelik II
1889 Menelik II is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia at the Church of Mary on Mount Entoto
- 1896 J H Hunter patents portable weighing scales
- 1896 Martha Hughes Cannon of Utah elected 1st female state senator in the US
McKinley Elected President
1896 William McKinley (R) defeats William Jennings Bryan (D) to be President of the United States
Jeffries vs. Sharkey
1899 World heavyweight boxing champion James J. Jeffries retains title; beats Irishman Tom Sharkey on points in 25 rounds at Coney Island Athletic Club, Brooklyn, NYC
PM Giovanni Giolitti
1903 Giovanni Giolitti becomes Prime Minister of Italy; a progressive liberal, he will hold his post through most of the next decade and introduce social, agrarian and labor reforms
Amnesty for Political Prisoners
1905 Tsar Nicholas II of Russia signs a document of amnesty for the political prisoners
- 1906 International Radiotelegraph Conference in Berlin selects the "SOS" (· · · – – – · · ·) distress signal as the worldwide standard for help
Taft Elected President
1908 William Howard Taft (R) elected 27th U.S. President over William Jennings Bryan (D)
Chevrolet Founded
1911 Chevrolet officially enters the automobile market in competition with the Ford Model T
- 1914 First modern elastic brassiere is patented by New York socialite Caresse Crosby
Bound East for Cardiff
1916 Playwright Eugene O'Neill makes his New York debut with "Bound East for Cardiff" with the Provincetown Players [1]
- 1916 Treaty establishes British suzerainty over Qatar
- 1917 1st class US mail now costs 3 cents per ounce
- 1918 Austro-Hungarian Empire dissolves
- 1918 Poland proclaims independence from Russia after WW I
- 1918 Thousands of revolutionary German sailors with the fleet at Kiel mutiny, seize the city, and set up councils of workers and sailors
- 1922 Greek parliament bans Prince Andreas for life
- 1926 Legendary baseball figure Ty Cobb resigns as Detroit Tigers manager; replaced by George Moriarty, first man to hold MLB's 4 principal jobs: player, umpire, scout and manager
- 1927 22.3 cm rainfall at Somerset, Vermont (state record)
- 1927 Tropical storm flooding kills 84 in Winooski River Valley, Vermont
Bank of America
1930 Bank of Italy is renamed the Bank of America
Revolution of 1930
1930 Getúlio Vargas becomes Head of the Provisional Government in Brazil after a bloodless coup on October 24.
- 1930 The first vehicular tunnel to a foreign country opens, connecting Detroit, Michigan to Windsor, Ontario
- 1931 Alka-Seltzer is first sold after Dr. Miles Medical Company patented the trademark for the effervescent tablet
- 1931 First commercially produced synthetic rubber manufactured
- 1935 George II returns to Greece after 12 years and regains monarchy
- 1935 Korean runner Sohn Kee-chung sets new men's marathon world record, 2:26:42 in Tokyo, Japan
- 1935 Philadelphia Eagles beat Boston Redskins, 7-6 at Fenway Park; respective quarterbacks combine to throw an NFL record 11 interceptions
FDR Wins Second Term
1936 President Franklin D. Roosevelt wins a second term in office, defeating Republican candidate Alf Landon in the most lopsided election in American history in terms of electoral vote
Plan for Attack on Pearl Harbor
1941 Japanese Admiral Osami Nagano presents a complete plan for the attack on Pearl Harbor to Emperor Hirohito
- 1942 12th day of battle at El Alamein: Scottish assault
- 1942 William L. Dawson elected to the US Congress from Chicago
Symphony No. 8
1943 Dmitri Shostakovich's 8th Symphony premieres in Moscow
- 1943 P-47D Thunderbolt shot down above North Holland
- 1944 Allied commandos land at Westkapelle, on the Dutch island of Walcheren
- 1944 German troops in Vlissingen surrender
- 1944 Pro-German government of Hungary flees
- 1944 US 28th Infantry division occupies Schmidt Hurtgenwald
- 1945 Dmitri Shostakovich's 9th Symphony premieres in 25th season opening concert of the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, under Yevgeny Mravinsky
Post-War Constitution of Japan
1946 Emperor Hirohito proclaims a new Japanese constitution
- 1948 Kleggie Hermsen and Bones McKinney each score 17 points as Washington Capitols beat Philadelphia Warriors, 77-70 at Washington Coliseum to win first of 15 straight games to start season; best start in NBA history
- 1950 Branch Rickey signs 5-year contract as Vice-President and General Manager of MLB Pittsburgh Pirates
- 1952 Egypt protests German retribution payments to Israel
Birds Eye Frozen Peas
1952 General Foods markets 'Birds Eye" frozen peas, using the methds of company vice-president and process inventor Clarence Birdseye
- 1953 "Tokyo Story", Japanese film directed by Yasujirō Ozu, starring Chishū Ryū, Chieko Higashiyama and Setsuko Hara, is released
- 1953 MLB Rules Committee restores the sacrifice fly rule, eliminated in 1939; rule says a sacrifice fly is not charged as a time at bat
- 1954 Ishirō Honda's giant monster movie "Godzilla" goes into wide release in Japan; film makes a big splash, spawns three dozen related titles and sequels
- 1954 Max Born and Walter Bothe win Nobel Prize for Physics
Perón Flees to Nicaragua
1955 Argentine ex-president Juan Perón arrives in Nicaragua
- 1955 Australia takes control of Cocos Islands
Polio Virus Crystallized
1955 Scientists Carlton E. Schwerdt and Fred L. Schaffer announce they have crystallized the pure polio virus, meaning they can better determine the virus's chemical and biological properties
- 1956 Suez Crisis: After several days of fighting, Israeli forces capture the Gaza Strip
The Wizard of Oz
1956 The 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz" is televised for the first time as the finale of the Ford Star Jubilee series (CBS-TV) and is hosted by Bert Lahr and Judy Garland's 10-year-old daughter, Liza Minnelli
Space Dog Laika Launched to her Death
1957 Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2 with space dog Laika aboard, a mostly Siberian Husky, the first animal to orbit the earth; she dies in flight
- 1958 USSR performs nuclear test
Ben-Gurion Regains Power
1959 David Ben-Gurion's Mapai party wins the largest number of seats in Israeli's parliamentary election
- 1960 Ivory Coast adopts constitution
- 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates starter Vern Law (20-9, 18 complete games) wins MLB's Cy Young Award
Secretary-General U Thant
1961 UN General Assembly unanimously elects U Thant as acting Secretary-General after the death of Dag Hammarskjöld in a plane crash
- 1962 SF Warriors center Wilt Chamberlain scores 72 points in 127-115 defeat to LA Lakers at LA Memorial Sports Arena; then 4th-highest point total in NBA history; remains 6th highest game total
- 1962 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
- 1964 For 1st time since 1800, residents of Washington, D.C. permitted to vote
Johnson Elected President
1964 Lyndon B. Johnson is elected President of the United States in a landslide, with Hubert Humphrey as his vice president, defeating Republican candidate Barry Goldwater
- 1964 Philadelphia voters narrowly approve $25 million to build a new multi-purpose stadium that would become Veterans Stadium, home to MLB Phillies and NFL Eagles
- 1967 Vietnam War: The Battle of Dak To begins, becoming one of the bloodiest battles of the war
- 1968 David Pearson is declared NASCAR Grand National champion as Cale Yarborough wins season ending Peach State 200 at Jefferson, Georgia; Pearson finishes 126 points ahead of Bobby Isaac to secure his 2nd title
- 1968 English Lotus driver Graham Hill wins his 2nd Formula 1 World Drivers Championship by taking out the Mexican Grand Prix at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez; wins title by 12 points from Scotsman Jackie Stewart
- 1968 Ex-Prime Minister of Greece Georgios Papandreou buried. 300,000 demonstrate against fascist junta
- 1968 New York Jets kicker Jim Turner lands 6 field goals and an extra point to beat Buffalo Bills, 25-21 at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York City
Senator Packwood Elected
1968 Oregon voters elect lawyer Bob Packwood (36) as their US Senator
Inauguration of President Allende
1970 Marxist Salvador Allende inaugurated as President of Chile
Nixon Promises Gradual Withdrawal
1970 US President Richard Nixon promises to gradually remove troops from Vietnam
- 1971 "Play Misty For Me" premieres
- 1973 Atlantic Records releases "Abandoned Luncheonette", the second studio album by the American pop rock duo Daryl Hall & John Oates
- 1973 BYU receiver Jay Miller sets an NCAA football single game record with 22 catches (for 263 yards) en route to a 56-21 victory over New Mexico at Cougar Stadium, Provo, Utah
- 1973 Mariner 10 launched-1st Venus pics, 1st mission to Mercury
Evert First-Ever No. 1
1975 Chris Evert becomes the first tennis player to achieve the No. 1 ranking as the WTA Tour rankings debut; Evert holds top spot for the first 26 weeks
- 1975 Good Morning America premieres on ABC (David Hartman & Nancy Dussault)
- 1975 U.S. advice columnist for "Good Housekeeping" Ann Landers asks parents in a mail-in survey, "If you had to do it over again, would you have children?," to which 70% of participants answer no
- 1978 Dominica gains independence from UK & adopts constitution
- 1978 First broadcast of "Different Strokes" on NBC TV
- 1978 USSR & Vietnam sign peace & friendship treaty
- 1979 Five people mortally wounded during anti-Ku Klux Klan demonstration in NC
- 1979 Moroccan offensive against Polisario Front
- 1980 After acquiring MLB's Oakland A's for $12.7m, Walter Haas Jr. appoints himself CEO; leads team to 4 AL West Divisional titles and 1989 World Series Championship
- 1980 Ianford Wilson's "5th of July" premieres in NYC
- 1980 Walter Hass Jr becomes CEO of Oakland A's
- 1982 San Diego guard Randy Smith plays his 845th consecutive game in Clippers' 130-111 loss in Philadelphia; passes Johnny “Red” Kerr's NBA record; goes on to play in 906 straight games
- 1983 Nashville Network begins on cable TV
Jackson Runs for President
1983 Rev. Jesse Jackson launches his 1st campaign for US presidential candidacy for the Democratic party
- 1984 3,000 die in 3 day anti-Sikh riot in India
Indira Gandhi Cremated
1984 Body of assassinated Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi cremated
- 1985 Bill Elliott wins Atlanta Journal 500 at Atlanta Raceway to become first driver to win 11 super-speedway races in 1 season; also first driver to win $2m in prize money in a single season
F1 World Champion
1985 French McLaren driver Alain Prost wins his first Formula 1 World Drivers Championship, finishing 4th in the Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide; wins title by 20 points from Italian Michele Alboreto
- 1985 President Alfonsín's Radical Burgerunie wins in Argentine legislative elections
- 1986 Federated States of Micronesia signs Compact of Free Association with US
- 1986 Joaquim Chissano is elected the second President of Mozambique
Menlove Avenue
1986 John Lennon's "Menlove Avenue" album is released posthumously
- 1986 Lebanese magazine Ash Shirra reveals secret US arms sales to Iran
- 1986 Northern Mariana Islands becomes a Commonwealth associated with US
Invention of the Laser
1987 Gordon Gould issued US patent US4704583 for the laser, ending his 30-year battle to be credited as the inventor of the laser
- 1987 New York Rangers' center Marcel Dionne becomes just the 2nd NHL player to register 1,700 career points, scoring a goal in 5-3 loss at Calgary
- 1987 Oakland A's first baseman Mark McGwire wins American League Rookie of the Year with 49 home runs, 118 RBI; second to win AL award unanimously; first Carlton Fisk 1972
- 1987 On Wall Street, after 5 consecutive gains, Dow Jones Industrial Average down 50.56
- 1988 American talk-show host Geraldo Rivera's nose is broken as Roy Innis brawls with skinheads at TV taping
- 1988 Pakistan claims it downed Afghan warplane
- 1988 Soviet Union agrees to allow teaching of Hebrew
Credit Card Disclosure Bill
1988 US President Ronald Reagan signs the credit card disclosure bill, the Fair Credit and Charge Card Disclosure Act
- 1989 100s of Bulgarian demonstrate in Sofia for democratic rights
- 1989 Lou Piniella is named manager of the Cincinnati Reds, replacing Pete Rose who is banned for life for gambling on MLB games
- 1989 NBA expansion Minnesota Timberwolves make NBA debut; lose 106-94 against SuperSonics at Seattle Center Coliseum; Tyrone Corbin T-Wolves top scorer with 20 points
- 1989 Šarūnas Marčiulionis and Alexander Volkov become first Russians to play in a regular season NBA game; Marciulionis scores 19 as Golden State lose 136-106 to Phoenix; Volkov held scoreless in Atlanta's 126-103 defeat by Indiana
- 1990 Atlanta Hawks' center Moses Malone sets an NBA record for free throws made in a career by hitting 7-of-9 in a 121-120 win over Indiana Pacers at the Omni; passes Oscar Robinson's record (7,694)
- 1990 Gro Harlem Brundtland is installed as Prime Minister of Norway
- 1990 MLB club owners agree to pay players $280 million in damages under a settlement to close aftermath of the owners' 3-year conspiracy case against free agents; largest owner-to-player payment ever made in sports
- 1990 TCU quarterback Matt Vogler completes 44 passes including 5 touchdowns for an NCAA football record 690 passing yards in a 56-35 loss to Houston at the Astrodome; Cougars quarterback David Klingler throws for 7 TDs
- 1991 Ayrton Senna wins the Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide, the shortest F1 race ever run (14 laps) due to wet conditions; Senna secures his 3rd World Drivers' Championship by 24 points over Nigel Mansell
I Will Always Love You
1992 "I Will Always Love You" (Dolly Parton cover) single is released by Whitney Houston (Billboard Song of the Year 1993)
- 1992 Carol Moseley-Braun elected first African-American woman in US Senate, representing Illinois
Clinton Elected President
1992 Democrat Bill Clinton is elected President of the United States, defeating incumbent President George H. W. Bush
- 1992 Dianne Feinstein is elected to the US Senate, goes on to become longest serving female there, serving until her death in 2023
Rage Against the Machine
1992 Rock band Rage Against the Machine releases their debut album "Rage Against the Machine" featuring single "Killing in the Name"
- 1993 Defenseman Ken Daneyko sets New Jersey Devils 'Ironman' record by playing 322nd consecutive NHL game in 2-3 loss at LA Kings
- 1993 TV sitcom "The Nanny" starring Fran Drescher debuts on CBS in the US
- 1994 Dutch & British astronomers find spiral nebula Dwingeloo 1
Sony PlayStation
1994 First PlayStation console released by Sony Interactive Entertainment in Japan
- 1994 Small forward Glenn Robinson signs the then most lucrative rookie contract in NBA history, a 10-year, $68.15 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks
- 1994 Space shuttle STS-66 (Atlantis 13), launches
- 1994 Susan Smith, who claimed her two children were carjacked, is arrested for murder
- 1994 Total solar eclipse in South America (4m23s)
- 1995 First NBA game at FleetCenter in Boston; Celtics lose to Milwaukee Bucks, 101-100
- 1995 First NBA game at Rose Garden in Portland; Trail Blazers lose 92-80 to Vancouver Grizzlies
- 1995 First NBA game at SkyDome in Toronto; Raptors beat New Jersey Nets, 94-79
- 1995 With a 105-91 victory over Charlotte at the United Centre, Chicago wins their first of an NBA record 72 games in one season and their first of an NBA record 37 home games won at the start of a season
Youngest NBA Debut
1996 Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant becomes the then youngest player to make his NBA debut (18 years, 2 months, 11 days) in 91-85 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Great Western Forum
- 1996 San Francisco 49ers receiver Jerry Rice grabs 3 passes for 45 yards and a TD to become 1st player in NFL history to reach 1,000 career receptions in 24-17 win over New Orleans Saints; finishes career with 1,549
- 1996 Spalding Gray's one-man show "It's a Slippery Slope" opens for a limited-run of 17 performances at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, NYC
- 1997 American horse racing legend Bill Shoemaker retires from thoroughbred training with a 90 winners from 713 start record; rode record 8,833 winners as a jockey, before becoming a trainer in 1990
- 1997 Boston Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra becomes 6th player to be unanimous choice for American League Rookie of the Year; leads AL in hits (209), triples (11), multi-hit games (68); also sets AL rookie-record with 30-game hitting streak
- 1997 British TV comedy "I'm Alan Partridge" starring Steve Coogan premieres on BBC Two
- 1997 California law ends affirmative action
