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1789 - French Revolution: The Third Estate of the French Estates-General swears the Tennis Court Oath at the Palace of Versailles, vowing not to disband until a new constitution is formed 1863 - West Virginia admitted as 35th US state of the Union 1944 - Great storm of 1944: Heavy Atlantic storm destroys Mulberry Harbor - allies artificial harbour used during D-Day at Omaha Beach 1949 - Tennis star Gussie Moran shocks Wimbledon by wearing a short dress "to look good and move more freely on the court" 1969 - A constitutional referendum in Rhodesia on declaring a republic is approved by 72% of the voting population 1975 - Film "Jaws," based on Peter Benchley's novel, directed by Steven Spielberg, and starring Roy Scheider, is released 1980 - Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán takes WBC welterweight title from Sugar Ray Leonard at Olympic Stadium in Montreal by unanimous points decision 1990 - Nelson Mandela lands in NYC to begin a tour of US More Historical Events »

Historical Events 1632 - Britain grants Lord Baltimore rights to Chesapeake Bay area 1895 - First woman to earn a PhD in Physics from an American university, Caroline Willard Baldwin (25), receives her degree from Cornell University 1943 - Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) founded in Chicago 1968 - Austin Currie, then Nationalist Member of Parliament (MP) at Stormont, and other Irish civil rights activists, protest discrimination in the allocation of housing by 'squatting' (illegally occupying) in a house in Caledon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland 2012 - A Syrian fighter pilot lands in Jordan and defects from the Syrian uprising More Historical Events » Famous Birthdays 1756 - Joseph Martin Kraus, German-Swedish composer, known as "the Swedish Mozart", conductor, and pedagogue, born in Miltenberg am Main, Electorate of Bavaria, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1792) 1868 - Helen Miller Shepard, American philanthropist who established Hall of Fame, born in Manhattan, New York (d. 1938) 1894 - George Delacorte, American philanthropist and publisher (Dell Books), born in New York City (d. 1991) 1894 - Lloyd Hall, African-American chemist and pioneer in food chemistry (science of food preservation), born in Elgin, Illinois (d. 1971) 1947 - Candace "Candy" Clark, American actress (Man Who Fell to Earth, Q, American Graffiti), born in Norman, Oklahoma More Famous Birthdays » Famous Deaths 1846 - Pieter Adams, architect of Rotterdam, dies at about 67 1958 - Kurt Alder, German chemist (Nobel 1950), dies at 55 1960 - Mahlon Hamilton, American actor (Peg O'My Heart, High School Girl), dies at 80 (b. 1880) 2016 - James Victor, Dominican-American actor (Boulevard Night, Streets of LA), dies at 76 2021 - Luis del Sol, Spanish soccer midfielder (16 caps; Betis, Real Madrid, Juventus, Roma) and manager (Betis), dies at 86 More Famous Deaths »

1269 - King Louis IX of France decrees all Jews must wear a yellow badge in public or be fined 10 livres of silver 1778 - George Washington's Continental Army troops finally leave Valley Forge, their winter encampment 1926 - DeFord Bailey is 1st African American to perform on Nashville's "Grand Ole Opry" 1937 - Francisco Franco's Nationalist troops take Bilbao during their victorious Biscay Campaign in the Basques region during the Civil War 1940 - German 7th Armoured division under command of Rommel occupies Cherbourg 1960 - Loretta Lynn records "I'm a Honky Tonk Girl" 1992 - Evander Holyfield beats Larry Holmes in 12 for heavyweight boxing title 2016 - NBA Finals: Cleveland Cavaliers win first title beating defending champion Golden State Warriors, 93-89 in Game 7; first team to overcome 3–1 deficit; MVP: LeBron James More Historical Events »

Historical Events 1868 - Major General E. R. S. Canby removes mayor of Columbia, South Carolina 1914 - British Open Men's Golf, Prestwick GC: Harry Vardon of Jersey wins a record 6th Open Championship, 3 strokes ahead of defending champion J.H. Taylor 1976 - US Viking 1 goes into Martian orbit after 10-month flight from Earth 1977 - Pope Paul VI makes 19th-cen bishop John Neumann 1st US male saint 2017 - Record 65.6 million people displaced around the world in 2016 reported by UN refugee agency More Historical Events » Famous Birthdays 1919 - Pauline Kael, American film critic (NY Times, For Keeps), born in Petaluma, California (d. 2001) 1925 - Alfred Nzo, South African General Secretary of the ANC (1969-91), born in Benoni, Transvaal, South Africa (d. 2000) 1964 - Bill Barretta, American puppeteer, producer, writer, and actor (Sesame Street; Pepe the King Prawn, The Swedish Chef, and Rowlf the Dog in "The Muppet Show"), born in Yardley, Pennsylvania 1967 - Bjørn Dæhlie, Norwegian cross-country skier and 8x Olympic gold medalist, born in Elverum, Norway 1978 - Garfield, American fictional cat created by Jim Davis (Garfield comic strip), born in Mamma Leoni's Italian Restaurant More Famous Birthdays » Famous Deaths 1650 - Matthäus Merian, Swiss engraver (b. 1593) 1820 - Joseph Banks, British botanist and naturalist who accompanied James Cook on board the Endeavour, dies at 77 1984 - Lee Krasner [Lena Krassner], American abstract expressionist painter, dies at 75 1994 - Jocelyn Hambro, British financier (Hambros Bank), dies at 75 1996 - Vivian Ellis, English composer, dies at 91 More Famous Deaths »

1580 - States of Utrecht forbid Catholic worship 1980 - Dutch 2nd Chamber joins oil boycott of South Africa 2003 - Google launches AdSense, a program that enables website publishers to serve ads targeted to the specific content of their individual web pages, many of which like On This Day (then HistoryOrb.com) go on to start their own publishing businesses 2005 - David Tennant's first appearance as the Tenth Doctor in BBC "Doctor Who" episode "The Parting of the Ways" 2013 - 27 people are killed and 30 are injured by a suicide bomb in Sher Garh, Pakistan 2017 - ICC Men's Cricket Champions Trophy, The Oval, London: Pakistan wins the competition for the first time with a 180-run victory over India; Player of the Series: Hasan Ali (PAK) 13 wickets 2020 - World record for greatest duration for a single lighting flash of 17.1 seconds during thunderstorm over Uruguay and Argentina according to World Meteorological Organization 2022 - Flooding in Bangladesh and nearby Indian states leave four million stranded and without electricity, with at least 41 dead as monsoon floods become more frequent and extreme More Historical Events »

Historical Events 1960 - San Francisco Giants hire Tom Sheehan to replace Bill Rigney; baseball's oldest debuting manager (66) goes 46-50-2 for remainder of season 1963 - 3,000 blacks boycott Boston public school to protest de facto segregation 2006 - US Open Men's Golf, Winged Foot GC: Geoff Ogilvy of Australia makes clutch pars on the final 2 holes to win by 1, as runners-up Jim Furyk, Colin Montgomerie and Phil Mickelson all fail to par the 72nd hole 2014 - King Juan Carlos I of Spain abdicates the Spanish throne to make way for his son Felipe VI 2019 - England cricket captain Eoin Morgan smashes a ODI world record 17 sixes against Afghanistan in his side's 150-run World Cup victory at Old Trafford; Morgan, 148 from 71 balls More Historical Events » Famous Birthdays 1919 - Ted Leadbitter, British politician (Labour), born in Easington, England (d. 1996) 1929 - James Bishop, English editor (deputy editor of The Times), born in London, England (d. 2017) 1946 - Russell Ash, British author ('the human Google'), born in Surrey, England 1947 - Bernard Giraudeau, French actor (L'Annee des Meduses), screenwriter, and director, born in La Rochelle, France (d. 2010) 1971 - Nigel Owens, Welsh rugby union referee (record holder for most Test matches refereed 100), born in Mynyddcerrig, Wales More Famous Birthdays » Famous Deaths 1580 - Juliana van Stolberg, German countess, mother of William of Orange and Jan Nassau, dies at 74 1911 - Franjo Ksaver Kuhač, Croatian composer who collected and published 1,600 folk songs, dies at 76 1959 - Ethel Barrymore [Blythe], American classic film and stage actress (Constant Wife, Corn is Green), dies at 79 1961 - Eddie Gaedel, American baseball pinch-hitter (shortest player in MLB history 3' 7"; St. Louis Browns), dies after mugging at 36 1981 - Richard Goolden, British actor (Two Days to Live, School for Husbands), dies at 86 More Famous Deaths »

1397 - Union of Kalmar established between Denmark, Sweden and Norway 1631 - Mumtaz Mahal dies during childbirth. Her husband, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I, then spends more than 20 years building her tomb, the Taj Mahal 1789 - French Revolution: During the meeting of the Estates-General, the Third Estate proclaims itself the 'National Assembly' 1916 - US troops under General Pershing march into Mexico 1990 - US Open Men's Golf, Medinah CC: Hale Irwin wins his 3rd Open title; defeats Mike Donald at the 91st hole, the first in sudden-death, after tying the 18-hole Monday playoff 2012 - US Open Men's Golf, Olympic Club, SF: American Webb Simpson wins his first major title, 1 stroke ahead of runners-up Graeme McDowell and Michael Thompson 2020 - First major breakthrough in treating COVID-19 using steroid dexamethasone announced by Oxford University 2024 - NBA Finals: Boston Celtics beat Dallas Mavericks 106-88 in Game 5 to clinch the club's record 18th Championship; MVP: Boston forward Jaylen Brown More Historical Events »

Historical Events 1700 - Massachusetts orders priest to leave the colony 1769 - Design of Madonnina statue chosen, symbol of the city of Milan that stands atop spire of the Cathedral, designed by sculptor Giuseppe Perego 1837 - Charles Goodyear obtains his first rubber patent 1950 - 1st kidney transplant (Chicago) 1966 - Peter Green, British blues-rock guitartist joins John Mayall's Bluebreakers More Historical Events » Famous Birthdays 1907 - Charles Eames, American designer and architect, born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 1978) 1920 - Jacob H. Gilbert, American politician (US Representative 1960-1971), born in The Bronx, NYC, New York (d. 1981) 1950 - Susan Damante, American actress (The Adventure of Wilderness Family), born in Palo Alto, California 1969 - Paul Tergat, Kenyan long distance runner, born in Riwo, Baringo District, Kenya 1970 - Ron "Popeye" Jones, American NBA forward, 1992-2004 (Dallas Mavericks, Toronto Raptors, and 4 other teams), and assistant coach, 2013-present (4 teams), born in Dresden, Tennessee More Famous Birthdays » Famous Deaths 1501 - John I Albert [Jan I Olbracht], Polish sovereign (King of Poland, 1492-1501; Duke of Głogów, 1491-98), dies at 41 1565 - Ashikaga Yoshiteru, 13th Japanese shōgun of the Ashikaga shogunate (1545-65), dies at 29 1797 - Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar, King of Iran (1794-7) and founder of the Qajar dynasty, assassinated at 55 2002 - J. Carter Brown, American art director (Washington National Gallery), dies at 67 2005 - Ronald Winans, American gospel singer (Winans), dies at 48 More Famous Deaths »

1823 - Dutch King William I opens the Fijenoord shipyard at Rotterdam 1913 - South African Government pass the segregationist Native Land Act, which restricts purchase or lease of land by native Africans 1922 - Irish republicans are beaten in a national election; the vote is in favor of the Treaty of London, which leaves the Irish Free State as a dominion within the British Commonwealth 1929 - Otto E. Funk, 62, ends marathon walk (NY to SF, 4165 miles in 183 days) 1985 - US Open Men's Golf, Oakland Hills CC: 1978 champion Andy North wins by 1 stroke ahead of runners-up Dave Barr, T C Chen and Denis Watson 2000 - Israel complies with UN Security Council Resolution 425 after 22 years, which calls on Israel to completely withdraw from Lebanon. Israel withdraws from all of Lebanon, except the disputed Shebaa Farms. 2013 - "Despicable Me 2" directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud with voices by Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig premieres at the Champs-Elysées Film Festival 2019 - India imposes retaliatory tariffs on 28 US goods More Historical Events »

Historical Events 1908 - The Republican Party convenes in Chicago where President Theodore Roosevelt picks William Howard Taft as his successor 1922 - Irish republicans are beaten in a national election; the vote is in favor of the Treaty of London, which leaves the Irish Free State as a dominion within the British Commonwealth 1989 - "Ghostbusters II", American supernatural comedy film sequel, directed by Ivan Reitman, starring Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd premieres 1997 - The Dairat Labguer massacre in Algeria; 50 people are killed 2013 - 20 people are killed by a series of car bombings across Iraq More Historical Events » Famous Birthdays 1754 - Salawat Yulayev, Bashkir poet and national hero who led the Pugachev's Rebellion, born in Tekeyevo, Russian Empire (d. 1800) 1953 - Valerie Mahaffey, American Emmy Award-winning character actress (Eve on "Northern Exposure"; The Doctors; Desperate Housewives), born in Sumatra, Indonesia (d. 2025) 1965 - Mike Lynch, English tech entrepreneur (Autonomy Corporation), Director of the BBC, born in London (d. 2024) 1966 - Jan Železný, Czech athlete (Olympic gold men's javelin 1992, 96, 2000; World C'ship gold 1993, 95, 2001), born in Mladá Boleslav, Czechoslovakia 1982 - May Andersen, Danish model (Victoria's Secret), born in Copenhagen, Denmark More Famous Birthdays » Famous Deaths 1885 - Wilhelm Camphausen, German painter (b. 1818) 1981 - John S Knight, American journalist and publisher (Knight Newspapers), dies at 86 2017 - John G. Avildsen, American film director (Rocky, The Karate Kid), dies of cancer at 81 2021 - Janet Malcolm [Jana Klara Wienerová], American journalist (The New Yorker, 1963-2021) and writer (The Journalist and the Murderer), dies of cancer at 86 2023 - Daniel Ellsberg, American military analyst, whistleblower (The Pentagon Papers), and anti-war advocate, dies of pancreatic cancer at 92 More Famous Deaths »

1667 - The first fully documented human blood transfusion is performed by French physician Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys when a small amount of sheep blood is transfused into a 15-year-old boy, who survives the procedure 1894 - Phillies beat Cincinnati Reds, 21-8 1957 - US Open Men's Golf, Inverness Club: Dick Mayer defeats defending champion Cary Middlecoff by 7 strokes in an 18-hole playoff to win his only major title 1965 - South Africa begins economic boycott of Dutch products 1980 - Jorge Orta of Cleveland gets 6 hits in a baseball game 2014 - NBA Finals: San Antonio Spurs beat Miami Heat, 104-87 in Game 5 for 5th NBA Championship in franchise history; MVP: Kawhi Leonard 2019 - Anthony Davis's opera "The Central Park Five" premieres at the Long Beach Opera Company, California (Pulitzer Prize for Music 2020) 2021 - US death toll from COVID-19 tops 600,000 (Johns Hopkins), with 65% of adults vaccinated with at least one dose More Historical Events »

Historical Events 1846 - Oregon Treaty signed, setting US-British boundary at 49°N 1918 - 1" of snow falls in Northern Pennsylvania 1966 - Mexican record temperature of 52.5 °C (126.5 °F) in the shade is recorded in San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora 1974 - Novelty song "The Streak" by Ray Stevens hits #1 on UK pop chart 1991 - Birth of the first federal political party in Canada that supports Quebec nationalism, le Bloc Québécois More Historical Events » Famous Birthdays 1763 - Franz Danzi, German composer and cellist, born in Schwetzingen, Electorate of Bavaria, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1826) 1870 - Maud Barger-Wallach, American tennis player (US Nat C'ship 1908), born at New York, NY (d. 1954) 1890 - Georg Wüst, German Oceanographer (provided first complete understanding of the temperature, salinity and deep-current structure of the Atlantic Ocean), born in Posen, Germany (d. 1977) 1935 - Belinda Lee, English actress (Who Done It, Runaway Bus), born in Devon, England (d. 1961) 1981 - Billy Martin, American guitarist and songwriter (Good Charlotte - The Young and the Hopeless), born in Annapolis, Maryland, More Famous Birthdays » Famous Deaths 1246 - Frederick II "the Warlike", duke of Austria and Styria (1230-46), dies at the Battle of Leitha at 35 1962 - Alfred Cortot, French-Swiss pianist and teacher, dies at 84 1990 - George Nakashima, American furniture maker and architect (American Craft Movement), dies at 85 2016 - Lois Duncan, American young adult novelist (I Know What You Did Last Summer), dies at 82 2018 - Joe DeNardo, American meteorologist and television weatherman (KDKA and WTAE in Pittsburgh, 1957-2009), dies at 87 More Famous Deaths »

1876 - George Hall of the Philadelphia Athletics becomes first MLB player to hit for cycle (single, double, triple, and home run), in 20-5 win over Cincinnati Reds at the Jefferson Street Grounds, Philadelphia 1877 - Henry Ossian Flipper becomes 1st African American to graduate from West Point Military Academy 1952 - British runner Jim Peters runs world record marathon (2:20:42.2) 1965 - John Lennon's second book "A Spaniard in the Works" is published 1968 - "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" second studio album by Iron Butterfly is released 1975 - Janis Ian releases "At Seventeen" 1981 - No Nukes concert at Hollywood Bowl 1993 - Japanese space probe Sakigake passes Earth More Historical Events »

Historical Events 1965 - Beatles release album "Beatles VI" 1988 - "Guy" debut album by Guy is released 2001 - China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan form the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation 2015 - "Jurassic World" is the first film to make $500 million worldwide in its opening weekend 2016 - First mammal made extinct by human-induced climate change announced - the Bramble Cay melomys from Torres Strait More Historical Events » Famous Birthdays 1736 - Charles-Augustin de Coulomb, French physicist (formulated Coulomb's Law), born in Angoulême, France (d. 1806) 1796 - Nikolai Brashman, Russian mathematician, born in Neu-Raußnitz, Austrian Empire (d. 1866) 1949 - Alan White, British rock drummer (John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band; Yes, 1972-2022; solo - Ramshackled), born in Pelton, County Durham, England (d. 2022) 1974 - Jang Jin-young, South Korean actress (Sorum; Singles), born in Imsil, South Korea (d. 2009) 1976 - Massimo Oddo, Italian soccer defender (34 caps; Lazio 135 games, AC Milan) and manager (Pescara, Udinese), born in Città Sant'Angelo, Italy More Famous Birthdays » Famous Deaths 1544 - Antoine, Duke of Lorraine and military leader (freed the Duchy of Lorraine from the Holy Roman Empire), dies at 55 1948 - Ernst Henrik Ellberg, Swedish composer, dies at 79 1982 - Marie Rambert, Polish-British ballerina, teacher and director (Ballet Rambert), dies at 94 2000 - Attilio Bertolucci, Italian poet and writer, dies at 88 2006 - Jean Roba, Belgian comics author (Boule et Bill), dies at 75 More Famous Deaths »

1727 - Spain underwrites Preliminairy of Paris 1895 - British Open Men's Golf, St Andrews: Englishman J.H. Taylor retains title; beats Sandy Herd of Scotland by 4 shots 1925 - 57th Belmont: Albert Johnson aboard American Flag wins in 2:16.8 1925 - American William DeHart Hubbard sets men's long jump world record at 7.89m (25 ft 10 3⁄4 in) in Chicago, Illinois 1937 - Joe DiMaggio hits 3 consecutive HRs against St Louis Browns 1953 - English Cricketer Alec Bedser takes 14-99 (7-55 and 7-44) vs Australia 1962 - Norway named ombudsman 1988 - Fed jury finds Liggett liable in death of NJ woman of lung cancer More Historical Events »