Today’s Important Historical Events

1588 The Battle of Gravelines – Spanish Armada damaged and scattered by the English fleet

1609 Samuel de Champlain shoots and kills two Iroquois chiefs at Ticonderoga, New York setting the stage for French-Iroquois conflicts for the next 150 years

1848 Irish Potato Famine: Tipperary Revolt – an unsuccessful nationalist revolt against British rule put down by police

1905 US Secretary of War William Howard Taft makes secret agreement with Japanese Prime Minister Katsura agreeing to Japanese free rein in Korea in return for non-interference with the US in the Philippines

1921 Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party

1949 Moscow ends the blockade of West Berlin

Today’s Historical Events

362 Emperor Julianus of Constantinople’s “School Edict” prohibited Christian teachers from using pagan literature which were standard texts for classical education at the time

626 Avars under khagan Bajan begin siege of Constantinople (fails, preserving the eastern Roman empire)

904 Thessalonica is sacked by Saracen pirates led by renegade Leo of Tripoli

1014 Battle of Strumitsa-valley: Byzantine destroys Bulgarian armies

1030 Battle of Stiklestad – Norwegian King Olaf II killed trying to reclaim the throne. One of the most famous Norwegian battles

1179 Lando Sittino proclaimed (anti-)pope Innocent III

1221 Emperor Go-Horikawa aged only 10 years old ascends to the Chrysanthemum Throne of Japan

1279 Five emissaries dispatched by Kublai Khan from the Mongol Yuan dynasty are beheaded by Japan

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1928 Test footage first created for Walt Disney‘s “Steamboat Willie” with Mickey Mouse

1954 Publication of “Fellowship of the Ring” 1st volume of “Lord of the Rings” by J. R. R. Tolkien by George Allen and Unwin in London

1956 WCKT (now WSVN) TV channel 7 in Miami, Florida (IND) begins broadcasting

1957 Jack Paar‘s “The Tonight show” premieres on NBC

1965 Beatles movie “Help” premieres, Queen Elizabeth attends

1983 “Friday Night Videos” premieres on NBC TV

1988 South African government bans anti-apartheid film “Cry Freedom”

1992 Ray Sharkey, actor (Wiseguys), arrested for narcotic possession

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1961 Bob Dylan is injured in car accident

1966 Bob Dylan hurt in motorcycle accident near Woodstock, New York

1973 Led Zeppelin has more than $200,000 in cash stolen from a safety-deposit box at the New York Hilton

1980 David Bowie stars in dramatic stage play “The Elephant Man” at the Auditorium Theater in Denver, Colorado

1987 Ben & Jerry’s and Jerry Garcia agree on new flavor: Cherry Garcia

1992 “Chinese Coffee” closes at Circle in the Square Theater, NYC, after 18 performances

1994 American minister and anti-abortionist Paul Jennings Hill murders Dr. John Britton and Britton’s bodyguard, retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Barrett, outside of an abortion clinic in Pensacola, Florida

2019 Record for longest run at the top of US singles chart made by country rap single “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X remixed with Billy Ray Cyrus, No. 1 for 17 weeks

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1751 1st international world title prize fight: Jack Stack of England, beats challenger M. Petit of France in 29 mins in England

1874 Major Walter Copton Wingfield patents a portable tennis court

1899 Southern California Golf Association forms

1906 4th Tour de France won by René Pottier of France

1908 St Louis Browns’ future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Rube Waddell strikes out 16 Philadelphia A’s in 5-4 win against his previous team at Sportsman’s Park II, St. Louis

1911 Boston Red Sox Joe Wood no-hits St Louis Browns, 5-0

1915 Pirate Honus Wagner at 41, hits a grand slam HR

1921 Cleveland’s 125th anniversary celebration: Cy Young, 54, pitches 2 inn

Today’s Important Historical Events

1794 French Revolutionary figure Maximilien robespierre and 22 other leaders of “the Terror” guillotined to thunderous cheers in Paris

1914 Austria-Hungary decides against mediation and declares war on Serbia – first declaration of war of WWI

1917 Silent Parade organised by James Weldon Johnson of 10,000 African-Americans who march on 5th Ave in NYC to protest against lynching

1943 Operation Gomorrah: RAF bombing over Hamburg causes a firestorm that kills 42,600 German civilians

1976 Tangshan Earthquake, 8.2 in magnitude kills over 240,000 Northern China in the largest loss of life from an earthquake in the 20th century

2005 The Provisional Irish Republican Army call an end to their thirty year long armed campaign in Northern Ireland

Today’s Historical Events

388 Battle at Aquileja: Emperor Theodosius beats emperor Magnus Maximis

754 Pope Stephen II, [III] makes Pippin de Korte, King of France

1148 Second Crusade: Crusaders abandon their siege of Damascus

1330 Battle of Velbuzd: Serbian forces defeats Bulgarian army

1434 Navigator Gil Eanes leaves Cape Bojador for Lisbon

1579 Cardinal Granvelle returns to Madrid

1586 Sir Thomas Harriot introduces potatoes to Europe on return to England

1609 Admiral George Somers settles in Bermuda

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1932 “White Zombie” – 1st feature length zombie film directed by Victor Halperin and starring Bela Lugosi is released in the US

1951 Walt Disney‘s animated musical film “Alice In Wonderland” released

1954 “On the Waterfront”, directed by Elia Kazan starring Marlon Brando and Eva Marie Saint, is released (Academy Awards Best Picture 1955)

1957 Jerry Lee Lewis makes his 1st TV appearance (Steve Allen Show)

1971 Dutch ends censorship of “Blue Movie”

2014 Linda Ronstadt receives the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama in a White House ceremony. [1]

2019 Meghan Duchess of Sussex, revealed as the first guest editor for UK Vogue in 103 years for its September 2019 issue

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1914 Foxtrot 1st danced at New Amsterdam Roof Garden, in NYC, by Harry Fox

1933 1st singing telegram delivered (to Rudy Vallee), NYC

1951 Cole Porter‘s musical “Kiss Me, Kate”, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s ” The Taming of the Shrew”, closes at New Century Theater NYC after 1077 performances

1954 Ernest Bloch’s 4th string quartet premieres

1978 600,000 attend the “Summer Jam” rock festival at Watkins Glen, New York, at the time the largest ever audience at a pop festival

1989 Gloria Estefan releases her debut solo album “Cuts Both Ways”

1991 “Gypsy” closes at Marquis Theater NYC after 105 performances

1992 R&B singer Mary J. Blige releases her debut album “What’s the 411?”, with production by Puff Daddy

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1906 Yankees turn triple-play, beat Cleveland 6-4

1912 10th Tour de France won by Odile Defraye of Belgium

1928 IX Summer Olympic Games open in Amsterdam, Netherlands

1929 Chicago Cardinals become 1st NFL team to train out of state (Michigan)

1929 24th Davis Cup: France beats USA in Paris (3-2)

1929 23rd Tour de France won by Maurice De Waele of Belgium

1929 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, Paris, France: Home team wins 3 straight titles as Henri Cochet beats American George Lott 6-1, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 for a 3-2 victory

1931 White Sox score 11 in 8th to beat Yankees 14-12

Today’s Important Historical Events

1586 Walter Raleigh brings the 1st tobacco to England from Virginia

1689 Battle of Killicrankie: Jacobite Scottish Highlanders under Viscount Dundee defeat royalist force under General MacKay

1789 US Congress establishes Department of Foreign Affairs now referred to as the State Department

1866 transatlantic telegraph cable successfully in second attempt comes ashore at Heart’s Content, Newfoundland laid out by Isambard Kingdom Brunel‘s Great Eastern steamship (1,686 miles long)

1921 Frederick Banting and Charles Best isolate insulin at the University of Toronto

Today’s Historical Events

432 St Celestine I ends his reign as Catholic Pope

1214 1st battle of Bouvines – King Philip II of France vs Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV and King John of England; as a result John lost Normandy and his other possessions in France (hence his nickname John “Lackland”)

1230 Treaty of San Germano between Emperor Frederik II & Pope Gregory IX

1280 Sogen Mugaku, founder of Engakuji temple, arrives in Japan from China

1298 Albert (Albrecht) I, son of Rudolf of Habsburg, crowned King of the Germans

1360 Danish King Waldemar IV destroys Visby, Gotland

1377 First example of quarantine in Rugusa (now Dubroknik); city council passes law saying newcomers from plague areas must isolation for 30 days (later 40 days, quaranta in Italian)

1501 Nicolaus Copernicus formally installed as a canon of Frauenberg Cathedral

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1940 Bugs Bunny, Warner Bros. cartoon character created by Tex Avery, Bob Givens (Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series), first debuts in “Wild Hare”

1990 Zsa Zsa Gabor begins a 3 day jail sentence for slapping a police officer in Beverly Hills

1993 NBC TV awarded 1996 Olympic coverage for $456 million

1995 28th San Diego Comic-Con International opens at San Diego Convention Center

2007 Two News helicopters from Phoenix, Arizona television stations KNXV and KTVK collide over Steele Indian School Park in central Phoenix while covering a police chase; there were no survivors. Worst civil aviation incident in Phoenix history.

2018 CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves is accused of sexual misconduct in the “New Yorker” by journalist Ronan Farrow

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1940 Billboard magazine starts publishing bestseller charts

1957 St James’ Theatre in London closes

1977 John Lennon is granted a green card for permanent residence in US

1979 “Broadway Opry ’79” opens at St James Theater NYC for 6 performances

1982 Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s musical “Little Shop of Horrors” opens Off-Broadway at the Orpheum Theatre in NYC

1997 “Candide” closes at Gershwin Theater NYC after 103 performances

1997 “Victor/Victoria” closes at Marquis Theater NYC after 738 performances

2018 American singer-songwriter Neil Diamond gives a small thank-you concert to firefighters near his home in Colorado

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1913 11th Tour de France won by Philippe Thys of Belgium

1913 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, Wimbledon, England: Maurice McLoughlin beats Charles Dixon 8-6, 6-3, 6-2 to give US an unassailable 3-1 lead over the British Isles; US wins, 3-2

1914 Roda JC soccer team forms in Kerkrade

1919 13th Tour de France won by Firmin Lambot of Belgium

1920 Resolute beats Shamrock IV (England) in 14th running of America’s Cup

1920 14th Tour de France: Belgian rider Philippe Thys becomes first to win the race 3 times

1924 VIII Summer Olympic Games close in Paris, France

1927 Mel Ott, 18, hits his 1st league home run (inside the park)

Today’s Important Historical Events

657 Battle of Siffin during the first Muslim civil war between Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muawiyah I beside Euphrates River

1519 Francisco Pizarro receives royal charter for the west coast of South America

1533 Francisco Pizarro orders the death of the last Sapa Inca Emperor, Atahualpa

1803 The Surrey Iron Railway, arguably the world’s first public railway, opens in south London

1908 United States Attorney General Charles Joseph Bonaparte issues an order to immediately staff the Office of the Chief Examiner (later renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation)

1945 Declaration of Potsdam: US, Britain and China demand the unconditional surrender of Japan during WWII

1953 Fidel Castro leads a failed attack on the Moncada Barracks, intended to spark a revolution in Cuba

Today’s Historical Events

657 Battle of Siffin during the first Muslim civil war between Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muawiyah I beside Euphrates River

811 Battle of Pliska: Bulgarians under Krum beat Byzantines

920 Rout of an alliance of Christian troops from Navarre and Léon against the Muslims at Pamplona

1267 Inquisition forms in Rome under Pope Clement IV

1309 Henry VII is recognized King of the Romans by Pope Clement V

1469 Wars of the Roses: Battle of Edgecote Moor – Pitting the forces of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick against those of King Edward IV

1497 “Edward IV‘s son” Perkin Warbeck’s army lands in Cork

1499 Spanish conquistador Alonso de Ojeda discovers Curacao Island

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1896 Vitascope Hall, 1st permanent for-profit movie theatre, opens in New Orleans

1938 1st radio broadcast of “Young Widder Brown” on NBC

1948 1st black host of a network show-CBS’ Bob Howard Show

1949 WCPO TV channel 9 in Cincinnati, OH (CBS) begins broadcasting

1954 WCET TV channel 48 in Cincinnati, OH (PBS) begins broadcasting

1966 WRLH TV channel 31 in Lebanon, NH (NBC) begins broadcasting

1978 11th San Diego Comic-Con International opens at El Cortez Hotel

1982 Karen Dianne Baldwin, 18, of Canada, crowned 31st Miss Universe

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1882 Richard Wagner‘s opera “Parsifal” premieres in Bayreuth, Germany

1973 Peter Shaffer‘s musical “Equus” premieres in London

1992 “Man of La Mancha” closes at Marquis Theater NYC after 108 performances

2018 Sir Paul McCartney performs a “secret” gig at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, where the Beatles began

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1914 12th Tour de France won by Philippe Thys of Belgium

1928 In only his second and final defence of his world heavyweight boxing title, Gene Tunney scores an 11-round TKO win over Tom Heeney at Yankee Stadium, NYC

1928 Yanks score 11 runs in 12th beating Tigers 12-1

1931 LPGA Western Open Women’s Golf, Midlothian CC: June Beebe beats Mrs. Melvin Jones, 3 & 2 for golf’s only major title

1931 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, Paris, France: Henri Cochet beats Fred Perry 6-4, 1-6, 9-7, 6-3 to give France 3-2 win over Great Britain and 5th straight title

1931 25th Tour de France won by Antonin Magne of France

1933 Joe DiMaggio ends 61 game hitting streak in Pacific Coast League

1939 Yankee catcher Bill Dickey hits 3 consecutive HRs