Events Pre-1600 1174 – William I of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173–74, is captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to Henry II of England. 1249 – Coronation of Alexander III as King of Scots. 1260 – The Livonian Order suffers its greatest defeat in the 13th century in the Battle of Durbe against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. 1402 – Nanjing surrenders to Zhu Di without a fight, ending the Jingnan campaign. The Jianwen Emperor disappears and his family is incarcerated. 1558 – Battle of Gravelines: In France, Spanish forces led by Count Lamoral of Egmont defeat the French forces of Marshal Paul de Thermes at Gravelines. 1573 – Eighty Years' War: The Siege of Haarlem ends after seven months. 1586 – Anglo–Spanish War: A convoy of English ships from the Levant Company manage to repel a fleet of eleven Spanish and Maltese galleys off the Mediterranean island of Pantelleria.
1601–1900 1643 – English Civil War: Battle of Roundway Down: In England, Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester, commanding the Royalist forces, heavily defeats the Parliamentarian forces led by Sir William Waller. 1690 – Nine Years' War: French naval forces led by Anne Hilarion de Tourville, fresh from their victory at Beachy Head, sail West and launch a raid on the small English town of Teignmouth, leaving it devastated. 1787 – The Congress of the Confederation enacts the Northwest Ordinance establishing governing rules for the Northwest Territory. It also establishes procedures for the admission of new states and limits the expansion of slavery. 1794 – The Battle of Trippstadt between French forces and those of Prussia and Austria begins. 1798 – The French Armée d'Orient under Napoleon Bonaparte defeats a Mamluk army under Murad Bey in battle of Shubra Khit. 1814 – The Carabinieri, the national gendarmerie of Italy, is established. 1830 – The General Assembly's Institution, now the Scottish Church College, one of the pioneering institutions that ushered the Bengali Renaissance, is founded by Alexander Duff and Raja Ram Mohan Roy, in Calcutta, India. 1831 – Regulamentul Organic, a quasi-constitutional organic law, is adopted in Wallachia, one of the two Danubian Principalities that were to become the basis of Romania. 1841 – Austria, Britain, France, Prussia and Russia conclude the London Straits Convention, which forbids warships to cross the Bosporus and Dardanelles in times of war. 1849 – The Charleston Workhouse Slave Rebellion begins in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. 1854 – In the Battle of Guaymas, Mexico, General José María Yáñez stops the French invasion led by Count Gaston de Raousset-Boulbon. 1863 – American Civil War: The New York City draft riots begin three days of rioting which will later be regarded as the worst in United States history. 1878 – Treaty of Berlin: The European powers redraw the map of the Balkans. Serbia, Montenegro and Romania become completely independent of the Ottoman Empire.
1901–present 1913 – The 1913 Romanian Army cholera outbreak during the Second Balkan War starts. 1914 – Felix Ysagun Manalo registers the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ) as Iglesia ni Kristo with the government of the Philippines. 1919 – The British airship R34 lands in Norfolk, England, completing the first airship return journey across the Atlantic in 182 hours of flight. 1930 – The inaugural FIFA World Cup begins in Uruguay. 1941 – World War II: Montenegrins begin the Trinaestojulski ustanak (Thirteenth of July Uprising), a popular revolt against the Axis powers. 1951 – Vuoristorata, one of the oldest still-operating wooden roller coasters in Europe, is opened at the Linnanmäki amusement park in Helsinki, Finland.Tieteen kuvalehti: Historia 11/2014, p. 74. (in Finnish) 1956 – The Dartmouth workshop is the first conference on artificial intelligence. 1962 – In an unprecedented action, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan dismisses seven members of his Cabinet, marking the effective end of the National Liberals as a distinct force within British politics. 1973 – Watergate scandal: Alexander Butterfield reveals the existence of a secret Oval Office taping system to investigators for the Senate Watergate Committee.; 1977 – Somalia declares war on Ethiopia, starting the Ogaden War. 1977 – Amidst a period of financial and social turmoil, New York City experiences an electrical blackout lasting nearly 24 hours that leads to widespread fires and looting. 1985 – The Live Aid benefit concert takes place in London and Philadelphia, as well as other venues such as Moscow and Sydney. 1985 – Vice President George H. W. Bush becomes the Acting President for the day when President Ronald Reagan undergoes surgery to remove polyps from his colon. 1990 – Lenin Peak disaster: a 6.4-magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan triggers an avalanche on Lenin Peak, killing 43 climbers in the deadliest mountaineering disaster in history. 1995 – Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-70 to deploy the TDRS-7 satellite. 2003 – French DGSE personnel abort an operation to rescue Íngrid Betancourt from FARC rebels in Colombia, causing a political scandal when details are leaked to the press. 2008 – Battle of Wanat begins when Taliban and al-Qaeda guerrillas attack US Army and Afghan National Army troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. deaths were, at that time, the most in a single battle since the beginning of operations in 2001. 2011 – Mumbai is rocked by three bomb blasts during the evening rush hour, killing 26 and injuring 130. 2011 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 1999 is adopted, which admits South Sudan to member status of United Nations. 2011 – Noar Linhas Aéreas Flight 4896 crashes in Boa Viagem, Recife, killing all 16 people on board. 2013 – Typhoon Soulik kills at least nine people and affects more than 160 million in East China and Taiwan. 2014 – Germany wins the FIFA World Cup, defeating Argentina in the final 1–0 after extra time. 2016 – Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron resigns, and is succeeded by Theresa May. 2020 – After a five-day search, the body of American actress and singer Naya Rivera is recovered from Lake Piru in California, where she had drowned. 2024 – Former president of the United States Donald Trump is injured in an assassination attempt while speaking at an election campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania.
Births Pre-1600 1470 – Francesco Armellini Pantalassi de' Medici, Catholic cardinal (died 1528) 1478 – Giulio d'Este, illegitimate son of Italian noble (died 1561) 1527 – John Dee, English-Welsh mathematician, astronomer, and astrologer (died 1609) 1579 – Arthur Dee, English physician and chemist (died 1651) 1590 – Pope Clement X (died 1676)
1601–1900 1606 – Roland Fréart de Chambray (died 1676) 1607 – Wenceslaus Hollar, Czech-English painter and illustrator (died 1677) 1608 – Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1657) 1745 – Robert Calder, Scottish-English admiral (died 1818) 1756 – Thomas Rowlandson, English artist and caricaturist (died 1827) 1760 – István Pauli, Hungarian-Slovene priest and poet (died 1829) 1770 – Alexander Balashov, Russian general and politician, Russian Minister of Police (died 1837) 1793 – John Clare, English poet and author (died 1864) 1821 – Nathan Bedford Forrest, American general and first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan (died 1877) 1831 – Arthur Böttcher, German pathologist and anatomist (died 1889) 1841 – Otto Wagner, Austrian architect, designed the Austrian Postal Savings Bank and Karlsplatz Stadtbahn Station (died 1918) 1851 – Marie Andrieu, French anarchist, cartomancer and spiritualist (died 1911) 1858 – Stewart Culin, American ethnographer and author (died 1929) 1859 – Sidney Webb, 1st Baron Passfield, English economist and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (died 1947) 1863 – Margaret Murray, British archaeologist, anthropologist, historian, and folklorist (died 1963) 1864 – John Jacob Astor IV, American colonel and businessman (died 1912) 1877 – Robert Henry Mathews, Australian linguist and missionary (died 1970) 1884 – Yrjö Saarela, Finnish wrestler and coach (died 1951) 1886 – Father Edward J. Flanagan, founder of Boys Town (died 1948) 1889 – Emma Asson, Estonian educator and politician (died 1965) 1889 – Stan Coveleski, American baseball player (died 1984) 1892 – Léo-Pol Morin, Canadian pianist, composer, and educator (died 1941) 1892 – Jonni Myyrä, Finnish-American discus and javelin thrower (died 1955) 1894 – Isaac Babel, Russian short story writer, journalist, and playwright (died 1940) 1895 – Sidney Blackmer, American actor (died 1973) 1896 – Mordecai Ardon, Israeli painter and educator (died 1992) 1898 – Julius Schreck, German commander (died 1936) 1898 – Ivan Triesault, Estonian-born American actor (died 1980) 1900 – George Lewis, American clarinet player and songwriter (died 1969)
1901–present 1901 – Eric Portman, English actor (died 1969) 1903 – Kenneth Clark, English historian and author (died 1983) 1905 – Alfredo M. Santos, Filipino general (died 1990) 1905 – Eugenio Pagnini, Italian modern pentathlete (died 1993) 1905 – Magda Foy, American child actress (died 2000) 1908 – Dorothy Round, English tennis player (died 1982) 1908 – Tim Spencer, American country & western singer-songwriter and actor (died 1974) 1909 – Souphanouvong, 1st President of Laos (died 1995) 1910 – Lien Gisolf, Dutch high jumper (died 1993) 1913 – Dave Garroway, American journalist and television personality (died 1982) 1913 – Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, Danish businessman (died 2012) 1915 – Kaoru Ishikawa, Japanese author and educator (died 1989) 1918 – Alberto Ascari, Italian racing driver (died 1955) 1918 – Marcia Brown, American author and illustrator (died 2015) 1919 – Hau Pei-tsun, 13th Premier of the Republic of China (died 2020) 1919 – William F. Quinn, American lawyer (died 2006) 1921 – Ernest Gold, Austrian-American composer and conductor (died 1999) 1922 – Leslie Brooks, American actress (died 2011) 1922 – Anker Jørgensen, Danish trade union leader and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Denmark (died 2016) 1922 – Helmy Afify Abd El-Bar, Egyptian military commander (died 2011) 1922 – Ken Mosdell, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2006) 1923 – Ashley Bryan, American children's book author and illustrator (died 2022) 1923 – Colonel James H. Harvey, US Army Air Force (later US Air Force) fighter pilot and Tuskegee Airman. 1925 – Suzanne Zimmerman, American competition swimmer and Olympic medalist (died 2021) 1925 – Huang Zongying, Chinese actress and writer (died 2020) 1926 – Robert H. Justman, American director, producer, and production manager (died 2008) 1926 – T. Loren Christianson, American politician (died 2019) 1926 – Thomas Clark, American politician (died 2020) 1927 – Simone Veil, French lawyer and politician, President of the European Parliament (died 2017) 1927 – Ian Reed, Australian discus thrower (died 2020) 1928 – Bob Crane, American actor (died 1978) 1928 – Sven Davidson, Swedish-American tennis player (died 2008) 1928 – Johnny Gilbert, American game show host and announcer 1928 – Al Rex, American musician (died 2020) 1929 – Sofia Muratova, Russian gymnast (died 2006) 1929 – Svein Ellingsen, Norwegian visual artist and hymnist (died 2020) 1930 – Sam Greenlee, American author and poet (died 2014) 1930 – Naomi Shemer, Israeli singer-songwriter (died 2004) 1931 – Frank Ramsey, American basketball player and coach (died 2018) 1932 – Hubert Reeves, Canadian-French astrophysicist and author (died 2023) 1932 – Per Nørgård, Danish composer and music theorist (died 2025) 1933 – David Storey, English author, playwright, and screenwriter (died 2017) 1933 – Piero Manzoni, Italian artist (died 1963) 1934 – Peter Gzowski, Canadian journalist and academic (died 2002) 1934 – Gordon Lee, English footballer and manager (died 2022) 1934 – Wole Soyinka, Nigerian author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate 1934 – Aleksei Yeliseyev, Russian engineer and astronaut