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