Today in History
1191 English King Richard I the Lionheart and Crusaders defeat Saracens in Palestine
1690 Battle of Boyne: in Ireland, Protestant King William III defeats English Catholic King James II
1790 French Revolution: The Civil Constitution of the Clergy is adopted, putting the Catholic Church in France under the control of the state
1804 Former United States Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton dies after being shot in a pistol duel by Vice President Aaron Burr
1843 Mormon leader Joseph Smith says God allows polygamy
1861 Wild Bill Hickok reputed to have shot and killed David McCanles, possibly his first kill. Hickok later acquitted after found he acted in self defense.
1863 In New Zealand, British forces invade Waikato, home of the Maori King Movement, beginning a new phase of the wars between Maori and Colonial British
1913 150,000 Ulstermen gather and resolve to resist Irish Home Rule by force of arms; since the British Liberals have promised the Irish nationalists Home Rule, civil war appears imminent
1940 Frederick McKinley Jones receives a patent for an air conditioning unit for trucks, helping to change long-haul carriage of food and blood
1943 World War II: Battle of Prokhorovka - Russians defeat German forces in one of the largest ever tank battles
1951 Mob tries to keep black family from moving into all-white Cicero, Illinois
1954 President Eisenhower put forward a plan for an interstate highway system
1957 US Surgeon General Leroy Burney connects smoking with lung cancer
1970 Thor Heyerdahl crosses the Atlantic ocean on the raft Ra II, arrives in Barbados from Morocco after 57 days
1972 Democrats nominated George McGovern for US president in Miami, Florida
1982 FEMA promises survivors of a nuclear war will get their mail
1990 Boris Yeltsin quits the Soviet Communist Party
1993 Don Imus begins broadcasting to Boston on WEEI (590 AM)
1998 South African President Nelson Mandela accompanies Queen Elizabeth II on a coach drive through the streets of London
2013 Malala Yousafzai addresses the United Nations and calls for worldwide access to education
2016 Bernie Sanders endorses fellow Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in a speech in New Hampshire
Movies & TV
1976 1st “Family Feud” game show debuts on ABC hosted by Richard Dawson
2018 “Misson: Impossible - Fallout”, directed by Christopher McQuarrie and starring Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg and Rebecca Ferguson, premieres in Paris
Music
1962 Rolling Stones 1st performance (Marquee Club, London)
1993 Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical “Sunset Promenade” opens in London
1990 “Les Miserables,” opens at National Theatre, Washington
1995 Enrique Iglesias releases his first album, “Enrique Iglesias”
Sports
1901 Cy Young wins his 300th game
1921 Babe Ruth sets record of 137 career home runs
1954 Major League Baseball Players Association founded
1959 NBC uses cameras to show catchers signals during Yankee-Red Sox game
1979 “Disco Demolition Night” at Comiskey Park: fans go wild destroying disco records and cause the White Sox to forfeit second game of a doubleheader to the Detroit Tigers
1996 Michael Jordan signs a NBA contract for 1 year for $25 million
1997 Cubs play in their 5,000th consecutive game without being no-hit
Birthdays
1817 Henry David Thoreau, American naturalist and pacifist (Walden Pond), born in Concord, Massachusetts (d. 1862)
1854 George Eastman, American inventor (Kodak camera, founder of the Eastman Kodak Company), born in Waterville, New York (d. 1932)
1864 George Washington Carver, African-American agricultural scientist (studied the peanut), born in Diamond Grove, Missouri [or Jan 10] (d. 1934)
1884 Louis B. Mayer, American film producer and creator of the star system (MGM), born in Minsk, Russian Empire (d. 1957)
1895 Oscar Hammerstein II, American lyricist who worked with Richard Rodgers (Sound of Music), born in NYC, New York (d. 1960)
1908 Milton Berle, Harlem comedian (Uncle Miltie, Mr Television), born in NYC, New York (d. 2002)
1943 Christine McVie, English rock vocalist (Fleetwood Mac-Got A Hold on Me), born in Bouth, England
1951 Cheryl Ladd, American actress (Charlie’s Angels, Purple Hearts), born in Huron, South Dakota
1978 Topher Grace, American actor
1997 Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest-ever Nobel Prize recipient, born in Mingora, North-West Frontier Province
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