Caesar Maximian
285 Diocletian appoints Maximian as Caesar and co-ruler
Battle of Shrewsbury
1403 Battle of Shrewsbury: Army led by the Lancastrian King of England, Henry IV defeats a rebel army led by Henry "Harry Hotspur" Percy of Northumberland thus ending the Percy challenge to the throne. Also the first battle English archers fought each other on English soil.
- 1568 Battle at Jemmingen: Alva's troops beat Dutch rebellion
- 1579 Mechelen surrenders to Duke of Parma
- 1588 First engagement between the English fleet and the Spanish Armada off the Eddystone Rocks
- 1595 Spanish explorer Álvaro de Mendaña is the first European to discover the Marquesas Island in Eastern Polynesia
- 1645 Manchu Prince Grogon issues edict that all Han Chinese men shave front of their head and wear hair in queues in the Manchu style
Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina
1669 John Locke's Constitution of English colony Carolina is approved
- 1718 Treaty of Passarowitz is signed between the Ottoman Empire, Austria and the Republic of Venice
- 1730 States of Holland put death penalty on "sodomy"
- 1749 Pieter Steyn becomes pension advisor of Holland
- 1773 Pope Clemens XIV bans Jesuits
- 1774 Russo-Turkish War, 1768-74: Russia and the Ottoman Empire sign Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji ending the war
NY Central Park Created
1853 Central Park in New York created when New York State Legislature puts aside more than 750 acres of land on Manhattan Island
- 1861 First Battle of Bull Run [Battle of First Manassas], 1st major battle of the US Civil War is fought near Manassas, Virginia, Confederate victory
First Western Showdown
1865 In market square of Springfield, Missouri, Wild Bill Hickok shoots and kills Davis Tutt in what is regarded as the first true western showdown
Jesse James 1st Train Robbery
1873 Jesse James and James Younger gang's 1st train robbery at Adair, Iowa
Third Lusitania Note
1915 Woodrow Wilson sends the third Lusitania note, warning Germany that future infringement of American rights will be deemed 'deliberately unfriendly'
Dutch Aircraft Factory
1919 Anthony Fokker establishes his new aircraft company, the Dutch Aircraft Factory in Amsterdam
- 1919 Dirigible crashes through bank skylight killing 13 in Chicago, Illinois
- 1920 Irish Nationalist and Loyalists engage in street fighting over the issue of Irish independence from Britain, though Loyalist are reinforced by 1500 British Auxiliaries and 5800 British troops
- 1921 MLB Cleveland Indians (9) and New York Yankees (7) combine to hit a record 16 doubles in 17-8 home team win at Dunn Field, Cleveland, Ohio
- 1921 To prove his contention that air power is superior to sea power, US Colonel William Mitchell demonstrates how bombs from planes can sink a captured German battleship
- 1923 Phillies score 12 in 6th and beat Cubs 17-4
Scopes Monkey Trial
1925 John T. Scopes found guilty of teaching evolution in the “Scopes monkey trial” in Dayton, Tennessee, fined $100 and costs
Eamon de Valera Elected
1937 Irish premier Eamon de Valera re-elected president of the Irish Dáil at the head of a Fianna Fáil government.
Nobilissima Visione
1938 Paul Hindemith and Leonide Massine's ballet Nobilissima Visione premieres in London
- 1942 8 die as coal waste heap slides in river valley near Oakwood, Virginia
Stormy Weather
1943 Musical film "Stormy Weather", directed by Andrew L. Stone, starring Bill Robinson, Lena Horne and Fats Waller (singing "Ain't Misbehavin'") premieres in the US
Churchill Meets Montgomery
1944 British premier Winston Churchill flies to France, meets Montgomery
Kluge Warns Hitler of Collapse
1944 Field Marshal Günther von Kluge warns Hitler of impending collapse of front in Normandy
- 1944 General Koiso becomes Premier of Japan
- 1944 US forces land on Guam during its recapture from the Japanese (Operation Forager)
- 1945 Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia A's play 24 inning 1-1 tie
- 1946 Jesus T Pinerol becomes 1st native born Puerto Rican governor
- 1947 Indonesia begins 1st political election
- 1948 WSPD TV channel 13 in Toledo, OH (NBC) begins broadcasting
- 1949 US Senate ratifies North Atlantic Treaty by a vote of 82-13 (NATO)
Event of Interest
1951 Dalai Lama returns to Tibet
The Quiet Man
1952 "The Quiet Man" film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara is released in the UK
- 1952 7.8 earthquake shakes Kern County California, 14 killed
- 1952 Premier Ghavam es-Sultaneh of Persia, resigns
- 1954 Geneva Accords for Indochina signed, dividing French colonial territories into the countries of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), the State of Vietnam (South Vietnam), Cambodia, and Laos
- 1955 USS Seawolf launched, 1st submarine powered by liquid metal cooled nuclear reactor
- 1956 Cincinnati Reds pitcher Brooks Lawrence loses after 13 straight wins
- 1956 US performs atmospheric nuclear Test at Enewetak Atoll
Sports History
1957 1st black to win a major US tennis tournament (Althea Gibson)
Event of Interest
1960 Francis Chichester arrive in NY aboard Gypsy Moth II, setting record of 40 days for a solo Atlantic crossing
Election of Interest
1960 Sirimavo Bandaranaike becomes the world's 1st female elected head of government, as Prime Minister of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)
- 1961 Launch of Mercury 4 (Liberty Bell) with Grissom
- 1962 160 civil right activists jailed after demonstration in Albany, Georgia
- 1962 Battles on Chinese & Indies boundary
- 1964 Arnold Long takes 11 catches in the match for Surrey v Sussex
- 1964 Last Dutch whaling ship Willem Barents Sea sold to Japan
- 1964 Race riots in Singapore between Chinese and Malay groups, 23 killed, 454 injured
- 1965 Pakistan, Iran and Turkey sign Regional Co-Operation pact
- 1966 Gemini X returns to Earth
- 1966 USSR performs nuclear Test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- 1969 Russia's Luna 15 impacts moon after 52 lunar orbits
- 1970 Aswan High Dam opens in Egypt, enables human control of the flooding of the Nile
- 1970 Clay Kirby has a no-hitter going for 8 inn, but is lifted for a pinch hitter, Reliever Jack Baldschun gives up 3 hits & Padres lose, 3-0
- 1970 Libya orders confiscation of all Jewish property
- 1970 USSR performs nuclear Test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
Event of Interest
1971 Sam Giancana returns to the United States after spending seven years of exile in Mexico
- 1971 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1972 10.83 inches (27.5 cm) rainfall at Fort Ripley, Minnesota (state record, until 2007)
- 1972 2 passenger trains collide head-on killing 76 (Seville, Spain)
- 1972 Bloody Friday: within the space of seventy-five minutes, the Provisional Irish Republican Army explode twenty-two bombs in Belfast; six civilians, two British Army soldiers and one UDA volunteer were killed, 130 injured
- 1972 In New York 57 murders occur in 24 hours
Sports History
1972 MLB Los Angeles Dodgers release knuckleball pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm, ending his career
Sports History
1973 Braves Hank Aaron hits Philadelphia Phillies Ken Brett's fastball for his 700th HR, in Atlanta
- 1973 France performs nuclear Test at Mururoa Atoll in the Pacific
- 1973 USSR launches Mars 4 for fly-by (2600 km) of red planet
Event of Interest
1974 US House Judiciary approves two Articles of Impeachment against President Richard Nixon
Sports History
1975 Billy Martin fired as Texas Rangers manager
Sports History
1975 NY Met Félix Millán hits 4 singles; erased by Joe Torres 4 double plays
- 1976 1st outbreak of "Legionnaire's Disease" kills 29 in Philadelphia
- 1976 Christopher Ewart-Biggs, British Ambassador to the Republic of Ireland, and his secretary Judith Cook are assassinated by a bomb planted by the Provisional IRA in his car in Dublin
- 1977 Libyan-Egyptian border fights
- 1977 Sanjiva Reddy is elected sixth President of India unopposed
- 1977 Sri Lankan Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike loses general election
- 1978 Bolivian military coup under General Juan Pereda, President Hugo Banzer flees
- 1978 US Postal Service & unions agree on a contract averting mail strike
- 1978 World's strongest dog, 80-kg St Bernard, pulls 2909-kg load 27 m
- 1979 National Women's Hall of Fame, honoring American women is dedicated in Seneca Falls, NY
- 1980 Jean-Claude Droyer climbs Eiffel Tower in 2 hrs 18 mins
- 1981 Australia set 130 to win, all out 111 at Headingley Willis 8-43
- 1982 France performs nuclear Test at Mururoa atoll
- 1983 Polish government ends 19 months of martial law
Music Concert
1983 Thunder storm cuts short Diana Ross' free concert in Central Park, NYC
- 1983 US announces Lebanon freed American hostage David Dodge
- 1983 World's lowest-ever natural temperature recorded −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F; 184.0 K) at Soviet Vostok Station, Antarctica
- 1984 Marita Koch of East Germany sets world women's mark for 200m, 21.71s
- 1984 USSR performs underground nuclear Test
- 1985 Amina Fakir (Detroit), 23, crowned 18th Miss Black America
- 1986 Pleasure Island plans unveiled
Appetite for Destruction
1987 Guns & Roses debut album "Appetite for Destruction" is released, and becomes the best-selling debut album of all time with more than 30 million copies sold
- 1988 ESA's Ariane-3 launches 2 communications satellites (1 Indian)
Presidential Convention
1988 Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis accepts Democratic nomination for president
- 1989 Eastern Airlines submits a reorganization plan to creditors
Boxing Title Fight
1989 Mike Tyson KOs Carl Williams in 1:33 for heavyweight boxing title
- 1990 Goodwill Games II opens in Seattle, Washington
Music Concert
1990 Pink Floyd's "The Wall" is performed where the Berlin Wall once stood; charity concert led by Roger Waters, with guests Cyndi Lauper, Joni Mitchell, The Scorpions,; Sinéad O'Connor, Bryan Adams, The Band, Van Morrison, The Hooters, and others
Baseball Hall of Fame
1991 Ferguson Jenkins, Gaylord Perry, Rod Carew, Tony Lazzeri, and Bill Veeck, Jr are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York
- 1991 Sharmell Sullivan (Gary Indiana), 20, crowned 23rd Miss Black America
Election of Interest
1994 Tony Blair is declared the winner of the leadership election of the British Labour Party, paving the way for him to become Prime Minister in 1997
Sports History
1995 Brian Lara completes a pair for West Indians v Kent
- 1995 KC Royals set club-record of 22 singles in 15 innings
- 1996 "The Daily Show", late-night talk and satirical news program hosted by Craig Kilborn premieres on Comedy Central in the US
Sports History
1996 Wayne Gretzky signs a 2 year deal with NY Rangers
- 1997 NY Yank Mike Whiton held in Milwaukee on charges of sexual assault
- 1997 The fully restored USS Constitution (aka "Old Ironsides") celebrates her 200th birthday, setting sail for the first time in 116 years
- 2002 Telecom giant WorldCom files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the then largest such filing in United States history
F1 World Champion
2002 With a record 6 races remaining, German Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher clinches his 5th F1 World Drivers Championship with victory in the French Grand Prix at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours; 3rd straight title win
- 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 bombers target London's public transportation system, exactly two weeks after the July 7 bombings. All four bombs fail to detonate leading to the capture of all the bombers.
Final Harry Potter Book Published
2007 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book in the series by J. K. Rowling is published worldwide. 11 million copies sell in 24 hrs
NZ Win Tri Nations Rugby
2007 New Zealand beats Australia, 26-12 at Eden Park, Auckland to win their 3rd consecutive Tri Nations Rugby Series; flyhalf Dan Carter lands 7 penalties for the All Blacks
Event of Interest
2008 Bosnian Serb politician Radovan Karadžić is arrested in Serbia and indicted by the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia tribunal for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes during the 1995 Srebrenica massacre
- 2011 NASA's Space Shuttle program ends with the landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-135
- 2013 12 people are killed in a clash between two Muslim families in Lanao del Sur, Philippines
- 2013 15 Egyptian Army soldiers are killed after their bus crashes into a truck on the Mediterranean Coast Highway
Event of Interest
2013 Philippe of Belgium becomes King of the Belgiums after his father King Albert II's earlier abdication
Guardians of the Galaxy
2014 "Guardians of the Galaxy", directed by James Gunn, starring Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana, premieres in Hollywood, Los Angeles
- 2014 After 3 weeks, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has struck about 2,800 targets in Gaza, while Gaza has fired 1,497 rockets at Israel
- 2015 On This Day changes its domain name and brand from HistoryOrb.com to OnThisDay.com
Music History
2017 Singer Justin Bieber barred from performing in China by Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture citing his "bad behavior"
- 2017 White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer resigns after opposing appointment of Anthony Scaramucci
- 2018 India scraps tax on sanitary products after campaign by activists
Film & TV History
2018 Re-boot of TV show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" announced with creator Joss Whedon as executive producer
Film & TV History
2019 Marvel announces 10 new superhero films at Comic Con including Blade with Mahershala Ali, Natalie Portman as a female Thor and first Asian American super hero film Shang-Chi
- 2019 Puerto Rico's governor Ricardo Rosselló says he won't seek re-election after widespread protests over misogynistic and homophobic comments in his leaked online chats
- 2020 European Union agrees huge €750 billion ($859 billion) post-COVID-19 stimulus bill
Trial of Interest
2020 Former Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir goes on trial in Khartoum for the 1989 coup that toppled the government
- 2020 Russian interference in British politics is 'the new normal' according to report by British Intelligence and Security Committee
Event of Interest
2020 Stage 1 of the controversial filling of Blue Nile River dam announced completed by Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed
Event of Interest
2021 President Xi Jinping arrives in Tibet in first official visit by a Chinese leader in 30 years
- 2021 World's fastest train debuts, a Chinese state-owned maglev bullet train, with speeds of 600 kilometers per hour (373 miles) in Qingdao, China [1]
- 2022 UK records temperatures over 40C (104F) for the first time (record 40.3C at Coningsby) amid an extreme heatwave across much of Europe [1]
