Today in History

1539 Hernando de Soto claims Florida for Spain

1621 Dutch West India Company (WIC) receives charter for The West Indies (The Americas, Caribbean and West Africa)

1781 Jack Jouett rides to warn Thomas Jefferson of British attack

1851 1st baseball uniforms worn when the NY Knickerbockers wear a uniform of straw hats, white shirts and blue long trousers

1861 1st American Civil War land battle: Union forces defeat the Confederacy at Philippi in modern-day West Virginia

1864 General Robert E. Lee wins his last victory of Civil War at Battle of Cold Harbor

1871 Jesse James & his gang robs Obocock Bank (Corydon Iowa), of $15,000

1888 “Casey at the Bat” published (SF Examiner)

1929 Chile and Peru sign the Treaty of Lima, finally resolving their border dispute from the War of the Pacific (1879–83). Chile keeps Arica and Peru regains Tacna.

1943 A mob of 60 from the Los Angeles Naval Reserve Armory beat up everyone perceived to be Hispanic, starting the week-long Zoot Suit Riots

1946 1st bikini bathing suit displayed (Paris)

1949 Dragnet is 1st broadcast on radio (KFI in Los Angeles)

1961 JFK & Khrushchev meet in Vienna

1968 American radical feminist Valerie Solanas attempts to assassinate Andy Warhol by shooting him three times. She is later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and pleads guilty to “reckless assault with intent to harm”, serving a 3 year sentence.

1974 Yitzhak Rabin forms a new Israeli government

1976 US presented with oldest known copy of Magna Carta

1979 Ixtoc I rig in the Gulf of Mexico blows, spilling 3 million barrels of oil in one of the worst oil spills in history

1980 Jimmy Carter wins enough delegates for renomination

1981 Pope John Paul II released from hospital after assassination attempt

1989 Beginning of the Tiananmen Square Massacre as Chinese troops open fire on pro-democracy supporters in Beijing

2005 ‘The Knight of Sainte-Hermine’ by Alexandre Dumas is published in France by Editions Phébus, completed by Claude Schopp, 135 years after the author’s death.

2014 President Obama announces his plan for a $1 billion fund to increase deployment of US troops to Europe

2017 The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum opens in Springfield, Massachusetts

2019 US President Donald Trump begins a three-day visit to the UK by calling London Mayor Sadiq Khan “a stone cold loser” after Khan called Trump’s language that of a 20th century fascist

Movies & TV

1969 Last episode of Star Trek airs on NBC (Turnabout Intruder)

1987 “Little Shop of Horrors” released in France

1987 “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” released in France

1988 “Big” film directed by Penny Marshall, starring Tom Hanks premieres in US

Music

1939 Beer Barrel Polka hits #1 on the pop singles chart by Will Glahe

1964 Rolling Stones begin 1st US tour (with Bobby Goldsboro & Bobby Vee)

1967 Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” reaches #1

1972 “Hot Rod Lincoln” by Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen hits #9

1976 Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” goes gold

2013 Lorde releases her debut single “Royals” (2014 Grammy Song of the Year)

2019 Jay-Z named the world’s first billionaire rapper by Forbes magazine

Sports

1925 Eddie Collins, is 6th to get 3,000 hits in baseball

1932 MLBs Lou Gehrig is 1st to hit 4 consecutive HRs; Yanks beat A’s 20-13

1955 Stan Musial hits his 300th HR

1972 French Open Women’s Tennis: American icon Billie Jean King wins her only French singles title; beats Evonne Goolagong of Australia 6-3, 6-3

1980 NY Mets draft Darryl Strawberry, 18, #1

1989 Sportscasting legend Vin Scully broadcasts 23 innings in two different cities on one day

2010 Canadian sportscaster Ron MacLean saves a man from drowning in the Delaware River in Philadelphia

2018 Golden State guard Stephen Curry breaks Ray Allen’s NBA Finals record for most 3-pointers with 9 in the Warriors 122-103 Game 2 win over Cleveland Cavaliers

Birthdays

1808 Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America (1861-65), born in Fairview, Kentucky (d. 1889)

1904 Charles R. Drew, American who pioneered blood plasma research and developed the blood bank concept, born in Washington, D. C. (d. 1950)