On This Day In History
June 28th
1389 Ottomans defeat Serbian army in the bloody Battle of Kosovo, opening the way for the Ottoman conquest of Southeastern Europe
1519 King Carlos I elected Holy Roman Catholic Emperor Charles V
1838 Coronation of Queen Victoria in Westminster Abbey, London
1919 Treaty of Versailles, ending WWI and establishing the League of Nations, is signed in France
2021 Tigray Defense Forces retake Tigray’s regional capital of Mekelle in Ethiopia’s Tigray War. The Ethiopian government declares a unilateral ceasefire to save face but neither side sticks to it.
Did You Know?
Saxophone is patented by Antoine-Joseph “Adolfe” Sax
Today in History in 1846
Would You Believe?
Tomato is proven to be non-poisonous by Colonel Robert Gibbon eating a tomato on steps of courthouse in Salem, New Jersey
Today in History in 1820
June 29th
1613 Shakespeare‘s Globe Theatre in London, burns down during a performance of “Henry VIII”
1900 The Imperial Chinese Court issues what is essentially a declaration of war against foreigners in China blaming them for hostilities and giving license to the Boxers for even greater ferocity
1964 Civil Rights Act of 1964 passes after an 83-day filibuster in the US Senate
1966 Vietnam War: US planes bomb the North Vietnamese capital Hanoi and the port city of Haiphong for the first time
1994 US reopens Guantanamo Naval Base to process refugees
Did You Know?
World’s first female diocesan Anglican bishop, Dr Penny Jamieson, appointed in New Zealand
Today in History in 1990
Would You Believe?
Thomas Beatie, the world’s first pregnant man, gives birth to a daughter
Today in History in 2008
June 30th
1520 Spanish conquistadors are expelled from Tenochtitlan following an Aztec revolt against their rule under Hernán Cortés during “La Noche Triste” (the Night of Sadness). Many soldiers drown in the escape, and Aztec emperor Moctezuma II dies in the struggle
1860 Famous debate on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution held at the Oxford University Museum and dominated by arguments between Thomas Henry Huxley and Bishop Samuel Wilberforce
1905 In Russia, the “Potemkin” arrives at Odessa, where sailors take the bodies of dead crewman ashore; sailors join civilians in revolutionary actions of the ‘1905 Revolution’
1908 A giant fireball, most likely caused by the air burst of a large meteoroid or comet flattens 80 million trees near the Stony Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate, Russia, in the largest impact event in recorded history
1934 “Night of Long Knives” – Adolf Hitler stages a bloody purge of the Nazi party
1938 Superman 1st appears in DC Comics’ Action Comics Series issue #1
1992 South African ANC President Nelson Mandela meets with UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali at Dakar
1997 British lease on the New Territories in Hong Kong, established by the Second Convention of Peking, expires
Did You Know?
The world’s first emergency call telephone service is launched in London using the number 999
Today in History in 1937
Would You Believe?
Winton Motor Carriage Company publishes the first known automobile ad in Scientific American using the headline “dispense with a horse.”
Today in History in 1898
July 1st
1689 Matsuo Basho, zen poet, leaves for 150 days journey on Honshu, Japan
1858 The joint reading of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace‘s papers on evolution to the Linnean Society
1863 Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; Lee’s northward advance halted
1867 The Dominion of Canada is formed, comprising the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario & Quebec, with John A. Macdonald serving as the first Prime Minister
1916 First day of the Battle of the Somme: the British Army suffers its worst day, losing 19,240 men (WWI)
1921 The Communist Party of China is founded and Chen Duxiu elected its leader
1941 Bulova Watch Co pays $9 for 1st ever network TV commercial
1997 United Kingdom returns Hong Kong and the New Territories to the People’s Republic of China
Did You Know?
“SOS” (· · · – – – · · ·) distress signal becomes the worldwide standard for help
Today in History in 1908
Would You Believe?
1st of 4 fatal Jersey Shore shark attacks occur at Beach Haven when Charles Vansant (25) bled to death, challenging previous scientific belief that sharks never hurt humans, and sparking popular fear over sharks which persists today
Today in History in 1916
July 2nd
626 Incident at Xuanwu Gate: in fear of assassination, Li Shimin ambushes and kills his rival brothers Li Yuanji and Li Jiancheng
1776 Continental Congress resolves “these United Colonies are and of right ought to be Free and Independent States”
1823 Bahia Independence Day: the end of Portuguese rule in Brazil, with the final defeat of the Portuguese crown loyalists in the province of Bahia
1964 US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act into law
1990 1,426 pilgrims trampled to death after a panic in a tunnel in Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Did You Know?
Slaves aboard a Spanish schooner La Amistad revolt to secure their freedom while being transported from one Cuban port to another
Today in History in 1839
Would You Believe?
French frigate “La Méduse” runs aground under incompetent leadership of Viscount of Chaumareys, 400 passengers evacuated. 150 men, 1 woman are left on “la Machine,” a poorly provisioned raft. 13 days later only 15 survivors remain, inspires Théodore Géricault‘s painting “The Raft of the Medusa”
Today in History in 1816
July 3rd
324 Battle of Adrianople: Roman Emperor Constantine I defeats his co-emperor Licinius, who flees to Byzantium
1187 Battle of Horns of Hattin: Saladin, Sultan of Egypt and Syria, destroys Jerusalem’s crusader army
1863 Battle of Gettysburg, largest battle ever fought on the American continent, ends in a major victory for the Union during the US Civil War
1884 Dow Jones publishes its 1st stock index, the Dow Jones Transportation Average
1996 UK House of Commons announces that the Stone of Scone, aka the Stone of Destiny, used in the coronation of Scottish (and subsequently English and British monarchs), will be returned to Scotland after 700 years in Westminster Abbey
Did You Know?
Intergovernmental Conference on Identity Certificates for Russian Refugees, convened by Fridtjof Nansen in Geneva, creates the Nansen passports (for stateless persons)
Today in History in 1922
Would You Believe?
Common tern banded in Maine; found dead in 1919 in Africa (1st bird known to have crossed the Atlantic)
Today in History in 1913
July 4th
1776 US Congress proclaims the Declaration of Independence and independence from Great Britain
1785 James Hutton, geologist, publicly reads an abstract of his theory of uniformitarianism for the first time at the meeting of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
1803 The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American people by President Thomas Jefferson
1838 Huskar Colliery Mining Disaster in Silkstone England: mining pit floods drown 26 children, leads to 1842 ‘Mines and Collieries Act’ bans women and children working underground
1934 Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard patents the chain-reaction design for the atomic bomb
2017 North Korea tests first successful intercontinental ballistic missile into Sea of Japan
Did You Know?
Howard Florey and Norman Heatley meet for 1st time, 11 days later they successfully recreate penicillin
Today in History in 1941
Would You Believe?
Western Samoa changes the International Date Line, so that year there were 367 days in this country, with two occurrences of Monday, July 4
Today in History in 1892