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Contents

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

Liturgical feasts

External links

Events

★ 356 BC - A young man called Herostratus set fire to the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

★ 1403 - Battle of Shrewsbury: King Henry IV of England defeats rebels to the north of the county town of Shropshire, England

★ 1568 - Eighty Years' War: Battle of Jemmingen - Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva defeats Louis of Nassau

★ 1718 - Treaty of Passarowitz between the Ottoman Empire, Austria and the Republic of Venice is signed.

★ 1774 - Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774: Russia and the Ottoman Empire sign the Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji ending the war.

★ 1831 - Inauguration of Léopold I of Belgium, first king of the Belgians.

★ 1861 - American Civil War: First Battle of Bull Run - At Manassas Junction, Virginia, the first major battle of the war begins (Confederate victory).

★ 1865 - In the market square of Springfield, Missouri, Wild Bill Hickok shoots Dave Tutt dead in what is regarded as the first true western showdown.

★ 1873 - At Adair, Iowa, Jesse James and the James-Younger gang pull off the first successful train robbery in the American West.

★ 1877 - After rioting by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad workers and the deaths of 9 rail workers at the hands of the Maryland militia, workers in Pittsburgh stage a sympathy strike that is met with an assault by the state militia.

★ 1919 The dirigible ''Wingfoot Air Express'' crashed into the Illinois Trust and Savings Building in Chicago, killing 12 people.

★ 1925 - Scopes Trial: In Dayton, Tennessee, high school biology teacher John T. Scopes is found guilty of teaching evolution in class and fined $100.

★ 1931 - CBS's New York City station begins broadcasting the first regular seven days a week television schedule in the U.S.

★ 1944 - World War II: Battle of Guam - American troops land on Guam starting the battle (ends on August 10).

★ 1954 - First Indochina War: The Geneva Conference partitions Vietnam into North Vietnam and South Vietnam.

★ 1960 - Sirimavo Bandaranaike becomes the first woman prime minister in the world, making her the first elected female national leader in the world (Sri Lanka).

★ 1961 - Mercury program: Mercury-Redstone 4 Mission - Gus Grissom piloting "Liberty Bell 7" becomes the second American to go into space (in a suborbital mission).

★ 1969 - Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first men to walk on the Moon, during the Apollo 11 mission.

★ 1970 - After 11 years of construction, the Aswan High Dam in Egypt is completed.

★ 1972 - Bloody Friday bombing by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) around Belfast, Northern Ireland - 22 bomb explosions, 9 people killed and 130 people seriously injured.

★ 1973 - In the Lillehammer affair in Norway, Israeli Mossad agents kill a waiter whom they mistakenly thought was involved in 1972's Munich Olympics Massacre.

★ 1976 - Christopher Ewart-Biggs British ambassador to the Republic of Ireland is assassinated by the Provisional IRA.

★ 1977 - Start of a four day long Libyan-Egyptian War.

★ 1983 - The world's lowest temperature is recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica at −89.2°C (−129°F).

★ 1984 - In Jackson, Michigan, a factory robot crushes a worker against a safety bar in apparently the first robot-related death in the United States.

★ 1994 - Tony Blair is declared the winner of the leadership election of the British Labour Party, paving the way to him becoming Prime Minister in 1997.

★ 1995 - Third Taiwan Strait Crisis: The People's Liberation Army begins firing missiles into the waters north of Taiwan.

★ 1997 - The fully restored USS Constitution (aka "Old Ironsides") celebrates her 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years.

★ 2002 - Telecom giant WorldCom files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the largest such filing in United States history.

★ 2004 - The United Kingdom government publishes ''Delivering Security in a Changing World,'' a paper detailing wide-ranging reform of the country's armed forces.

★ 2005 - Four terrorist bombings, occurring exactly two weeks after the similar July 7 bombings, target London's public transportation system. All four bombs fail to detonate and all four suspected suicide bombers escaped.

★ 2007 - Release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J K Rowling-the final book in the Harry Potter series.

Births

★ 356 BC - Alexander the Great, Greek king and military leader (d. 323 BC)

★ 1414 - Pope Sixtus IV (d. 1484)

★ 1515 - Philip Neri, Italian churchman (d. 1595)

★ 1620 - Jean Picard, French astronomer (d. 1682)

★ 1664 - Matthew Prior, English poet and diplomat (d. 1721)

★ 1693 - Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1768)

★ 1710 - Paul Möhring, German physician (d. 1792)

★ 1810 - Henri Victor Regnault, French chemist (d. 1878)

★ 1858 - Lovis Corinth, German painter (d. 1925)

★ 1858 - Maria Christina of Austria, queen of Spain (d. 1929)

★ 1858 - Alfred Henry O'Keeffe, New Zealand artist (d. 1941)

★ 1870 - Emil Orlik, Czech painter (d. 1932)

★ 1882 - David Burliuk, Ukrainian artist (d. 1967)

★ 1893 - Hans Fallada, German writer (d. 1947)

★ 1899 - Hart Crane, American poet (d. 1932)

★ 1899 - Ernest Hemingway, American writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1961)

★ 1903 - Roy Neuberger, American financier

★ 1911 - Marshall McLuhan, Canadian author (d. 1980)

★ 1920 - Constance Dowling, American actress (d. 1969)

★ 1920 - Isaac Stern, Ukrainian-born violinist (d. 2001)

★ 1923 - Rudolph A. Marcus, Canadian chemist, Nobel laureate

★ 1922 - Kay Starr, American singer

★ 1924 - Don Knotts, American actor (d. 2006)

★ 1925 - Anne Meacham, American actress

★ 1926 - Norman Jewison, Canadian film director

★ 1926 - Rahimuddin Khan, Pakistani general

★ 1926 - Paul Burke, American actor

★ 1929 - Bob Orton, Sr., wrestler (d. 2006)

★ 1932 - Ernie Warlick, American football player

★ 1933 - John Gardner, American author (d. 1982)

★ 1935 - Norbert Blüm, German politician

★ 1935 - Moe Drabowsky, baseball player (d. 2006)

★ 1938 - Janet Reno, 79th United States Attorney General

★ 1939 - John Negroponte, 1st United States Director of National Intelligence

★ 1943 - Edward Herrmann, American actor

★ 1944 - Tony Scott, British film director

★ 1944 - Paul Wellstone, American politician (d. 2002)

★ 1945 - John Lowe, English darts player

★ 1946 - Kenneth Starr, American lawyer

★ 1948 - Ed Hinton, American sportswriter

★ 1948 - Yusuf Islam, formerly Cat Stevens, English singer

★ 1948 - Garry Trudeau, American cartoonist

★ 1949 - Al Hrabosky, baseball player

★ 1950 - Ubaldo Fillol, Argentinian footballer

★ 1951 - Robin Williams, American comedian/actor

★ 1953 - Brian Talbot, British footballer

★ 1955 - Howie Epstein, American musician (d. 2003)

★ 1955 - Taco Ockerse, Indonesian singer

★ 1957 - Jon Lovitz, American comedian

★ 1957 - George Landress, American songwriter, music producer and sound engineer

★ 1959 - Paul "Fatty" Vautin, Australian rugby league player

★ 1960 - Lance Guest, American actor

★ 1960 - Fritz Walter, German footballer

★ 1961 - Amar Singh Chamkila, Punjabi folk singer

★ 1961 - "Big" Jim Martin, American musician (Faith No More)

★ 1963 - Kevin Poole, English footballer

★ 1964 - Jens Weißflog, German ski jumper

★ 1965 - Gudni Bergsson, Icelandic footballer

★ 1965 - Mike Bordick, American baseball player

★ 1968 - Brandi Chastain, American soccer player

★ 1968 - Lyle Odelein, Canadian hockey player

★ 1969 - Emerson Hart, American musician (Tonic)

★ 1970 - Shawn Stasiak, American professional wrestler

★ 1971 - Emmanuel Bangué, French long jumper

★ 1971 - Charlotte Gainsbourg, French actress and singer

★ 1971 - Nuno Markl, Portuguese comedian and radio host

★ 1978 - Josh Hartnett, American actor

★ 1978 - Justin Bartha, American actor

★ 1978 - Damian Marley, Jamacian musician

★ 1978 - Gary Teale, Scottish football player

★ 1979 - David Carr, American football player

★ 1979 - Tamika Catchings, American basketball player

★ 1980 - C. C. Sabathia, American baseball player

★ 1981 - Titus Bramble, English footballer

★ 1981 - Stefan Schumacher, German cyclist

★ 1981 - Veronica Belmont, CNET TV personality

★ 1981 - Blake Lewis, American Idol finalist

★ 1981 - Joaquín Sánchez, Spanish footballer

★ 1982 - Claudette Ortiz, American soul singer

★ 1983 - Eivør Pálsdóttir, Faroese singer

★ 1983 - Kellen Winslow II, American football player

★ 1984 - Liam Ridgewell, English footballer

★ 1985 - Von Wafer, American basketball player

★ 1989 - Jamie Waylett, British actor

★ 1989 - Rory Culkin, American actor

★ 1992 - Rachael Flatt, American figure skater

Deaths

★ 1403 - Henry Percy, English soldier (killed in battle)

★ 1425 - Manuel II Palaeologus, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1350)

★ 1688 - James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde, English statesman and soldier (b. 1610)

★ 1793 - Bruni d'Entrecasteaux, French explorer (b. 1739)

★ 1796 - Robert Burns, Scottish poet (b. 1759)

★ 1798 - François Sebastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt, Austrian field marshal (b. 1733)

★ 1880 - Hiram Walden, American politician (b. 1800)

★ 1889 - Nelson Dewey, American politician, 1st Governor of Wisconsin (b. 1813)

★ 1899 - Robert G. Ingersoll, American politician and military officer (b. 1833)

★ 1899 - Sri Sarada Devi, Saint and wife of Sri Ramakrishna (b. 1853)

★ 1932 - Bill Gleason, late 19th century baseball player

★ 1936 - Georg Michaelis, 6th Chancellor of the German Empire (b. 1857)

★ 1938 - Owen Wister, American author (b. 1860)

★ 1941 - Bohdan Lepky, Ukrainian writer and poet (b. 1872)

★ 1943 - Charlie Paddock, American athlete (b. 1900)

★ 1944 - Claus von Stauffenberg, German army colonel who tried to assassinate Hitler (b. 1907)

★ 1944 - Ludwig Beck, German Chief of Staff (b. 1880)

★ 1946 - Gualberto Villarroel, President of Bolivia (b. 1908)

★ 1967 - Jimmie Foxx, baseball player (b. 1907)

★ 1967 - Albert Lutuli, South African politician, Nobel Peace Prize laureate

★ 1967 - Basil Rathbone, English actor (b. 1892)

★ 1968 - Ruth St. Denis, dancer and choreographer (b. 1878)

★ 1970 - Mikhail Gerasimov, Russian anthropologist and sculptor (b. 1907)

★ 1970 - Bob Kalsu, American football player (b. 1945)

★ 1972 - Ralph Craig, American athlete (b. 1889)

★ 1982 - Dave Garroway, American television host (b. 1913)

★ 1986 - Ernest Maas, American screenwriter (b. 1892)

★ 1998 - Alan Shepard, astronaut (b. 1923)

★ 1998 - Robert Young, American actor (b. 1907)

★ 2001 - Steve Barton, American actor (b. 1954)

★ 2001 - Sivaji Ganesan, South Indian Tamil actor (b. 1927)

★ 2003 - John Davies, New Zealand Olympic Committee president (b. 1938)

★ 2003 - Walter M. "Matt" Jefferies, American film art director (b. 1921)

★ 2004 - Jerry Goldsmith, American composer (b. 1929)

★ 2004 - Edward B. Lewis, American geneticist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate (b. 1918)

★ 2005 - Andrzej Grubba, Polish table tennis player (b. 1958)

★ 2005 - Long John Baldry, British blues musician (b. 1941)

★ 2005 - Lord Alfred Hayes, British Wrestling Announcer for WWE (b. 1928)

★ 2006 - Mako, Japanese-born American actor (b. 1933)

★ 2006 - Ta Mok, "The Khmer Rouge Butcher", war criminal in Democratic Kampuchea (b. 1926)

★ 2007 - Jesús de Polanco, Spanish businessman and press mogul (b. 1929)

Holidays and observances

★ Belgium: National holiday (1831 - inauguration of Léopold I, first king of the Belgians)

★ Bolivia: Martyrs' Day

★ Guam: Liberation Day (1944)

★ Russia: summer Kazanskaya

★ Singapore: Racial Harmony Day

Liturgical feasts

Roman Catholic

★ Saint Arbogastus, bishop of Strasburg, confessor [Basel, Constance, Strassburg]

★ Saint Daniel

★ Saint Lawrence of Brindisi, priest, Doctor of the Church

★ Saint Praxedes (Praxidis)

★ Saint Victor of Marseilles, and companions, martyrs [Trier, southern France; Paris]

★ Saint Zoticus, bishop of Comana, martyr

External links

★ BBC: On This Day

★

★ On This Day in Canada
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