- 371 BC – The Battle of Leuctra shatters Sparta’s reputation of military invincibility.[1]
- 640 – Battle of Heliopolis: The Muslim Arab army under ‘Amr ibn al-‘As defeat the Byzantine forces near Heliopolis (Egypt).
- 1253 – Mindaugas is crowned King of Lithuania.
- 1348 – Pope Clement VI issues a papal bull protecting the Jews accused of having caused the Black Death.
- 1411 – Ming China‘s Admiral Zheng He returns to Nanjing after the third treasure voyage and presents the Sinhalese king, captured during the Ming–Kotte War, to the Yongle Emperor.
- 1415 – Jan Hus is condemned by the assembly of the council in the cathedral as a heretic and sentenced to be burned at the stake. (See Deaths section.)[2]
- 1438 – A temporary compromise between the rebellious Transylvanian peasants and the noblemen is signed in Kolozsmonostor Abbey.
- 1483 – Richard III is crowned King of England.
- 1484 – Portuguese sea captain Diogo Cão finds the mouth of the Congo River.
- 1495 – First Italian War: Battle of Fornovo: Charles VIII defeats the Holy League.
- 1535 – Sir Thomas More is executed for treason against King Henry VIII of England.
- 1557 – King Philip II of Spain, consort of Queen Mary I of England, sets out from Dover to war with France, which eventually resulted in the loss of the City of Calais, the last English possession on the continent, and Mary I never seeing her husband again.
- 1560 – The Treaty of Edinburgh is signed by Scotland and England.
- 1573 – Córdoba, Argentina, is founded by Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera.
- 1573 – French Wars of Religion: Siege of La Rochelle ends.
- 1614 – Raid on Żejtun: The south east of Malta, and the town of Żejtun, suffer a raid from Ottoman forces. This was the last unsuccessful attempt by the Ottomans to conquer the island of Malta.
- 1630 – Thirty Years’ War: Four thousand Swedish troops under Gustavus Adolphus land in Pomerania, Germany.
- 1685 – Battle of Sedgemoor: Last battle of the Monmouth Rebellion. troops of King James II defeat troops of James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth.
- 1751 – Pope Benedict XIV suppresses the Patriarchate of Aquileia and establishes from its territory the Archdiocese of Udine and Gorizia.
- 1777 – American Revolutionary War: Siege of Fort Ticonderoga: After a bombardment by British artillery under General John Burgoyne, American forces retreat from Fort Ticonderoga, New York.
- 1779 – Battle of Grenada: The French defeat British naval forces during the American Revolutionary War.
- 1801 – First Battle of Algeciras: Outnumbered French Navy ships defeat the Royal Navy in the fortified Spanish port of Algeciras.
- 1809 – The second day of the Battle of Wagram; France defeats the Austrian army in the largest battle to date of the Napoleonic Wars.
- 1854 – In Jackson, Michigan, the first convention of the United States Republican Party is held.
- 1885 – Louis Pasteur successfully tests his vaccine against rabies on Joseph Meister, a boy who was bitten by a rabid dog.
- 1887 – David Kalākaua, monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, is forced to sign the Bayonet Constitution, which transfers much of the king’s authority to the Legislature of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
- 1892 – Three thousand eight hundred striking steelworkers engage in a day-long battle with Pinkerton agents during the Homestead Strike, leaving ten dead and dozens wounded.
- 1917 – World War I: Arabian troops led by T. E. Lawrence (“Lawrence of Arabia”) and Auda ibu Tayi capture Aqaba from the Ottoman Empire during the Arab Revolt.
- 1918 – The Left SR uprising in Russia starts with the assassination of German ambassador Wilhelm von Mirbach by Cheka members.
- 1919 – The British dirigible R34 lands in New York, completing the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by an airship.
- 1933 – The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game is played in Chicago’s Comiskey Park. The American League defeated the National League 4–2.
- 1936 – A major breach of the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal in England sends millions of gallons of water cascading 200 feet (61 m) into the River Irwell.
- 1937 – Spanish Civil War: Battle of Brunete: The battle begins with Spanish Republican troops going on the offensive against the Nationalists to relieve pressure on Madrid.
- 1939 – Anti-Jewish legislation in prewar Nazi Germany closes the last remaining Jewish enterprises.
- 1940 – Story Bridge, a major landmark in Brisbane, as well as Australia’s longest cantilever bridge is formally opened.
- 1941 – The German army launches its offensive to encircle several Soviet armies near Smolensk.
- 1942 – Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in the “Secret Annexe” above her father’s office in an Amsterdam warehouse.
- 1944 – Jackie Robinson refuses to move to the back of a bus, leading to a court-martial.
- 1944 – The Hartford circus fire, one of America’s worst fire disasters, kills approximately 168 people and injures over 700 in Hartford, Connecticut.[3]
- 1947 – Referendum held in Sylhet to decide its fate in the Partition of India.[4]
- 1947 – The AK-47 goes into production in the Soviet Union.
- 1957 – Althea Gibson wins the Wimbledon championships, becoming the first black athlete to do so.[5]
- 1957 – John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet for the first time, as teenagers at Woolton Fete, three years before forming the Beatles.[6]
- 1962 – As a part of Operation Plowshare, the Sedan nuclear test takes place.
- 1962 – The Late Late Show, the world’s longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster, airs on RTÉ One for the first time.
- 1964 – Malawi declares its independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1966 – Malawi becomes a republic, with Hastings Banda as its first President.
- 1967 – Nigerian Civil War: Nigerian forces invade Biafra, beginning the war.
- 1975 – The Comoros declares independence from France.
- 1986 – Davis Phinney becomes the first American cyclist to win a road stage of the Tour de France.
- 1988 – The Piper Alpha drilling platform in the North Sea is destroyed by explosions and fires. One hundred sixty-seven oil workers are killed, making it the world’s worst offshore oil disaster in terms of direct loss of life.
- 1989 – The Tel Aviv–Jerusalem bus 405 suicide attack: Sixteen bus passengers are killed when a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad took control of the bus and drove it over a cliff.
- 1990 – The Electronic Frontier Foundation is founded.
- 1995 – In the Bosnian War, under the command of General Ratko Mladić, Serbia begins its attack on the Bosnian town of Srebrenica.
- 1997 – The Troubles: In response to the Drumcree dispute, five days of mass protests, riots and gun battles begin in Irish nationalist districts of Northern Ireland.
- 1998 – Hong Kong International Airport opens in Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong, replacing Kai Tak Airport as the city’s international airport.
- 2003 – The 70-metre Yevpatoria Planetary Radar sends a METI message (Cosmic Call 2) to five stars: Hip 4872, HD 245409, 55 Cancri (HD 75732), HD 10307 and 47 Ursae Majoris (HD 95128). The messages will arrive to these stars in 2036, 2040, 2044, and 2049, respectively.
- 2006 – The Nathu La pass between India and China, sealed during the Sino-Indian War, re-opens for trade after 44 years.
- 2013 – At least 42 people are killed in a shooting at a school in Yobe State, Nigeria.
- 2013 – A Boeing 777 operating as Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashes at San Francisco International Airport, killing three and injuring 181 of the 307 people on board.
- 2013 – A 73-car oil train derails in the town of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec and explodes into flames, killing at least 47 people and destroying more than 30 buildings in the town’s central area.
-Source: wikipedia
