EVENTS
- 1493 – The Great Fire in Moscow, Russia.
- 1821 – Jose de San Martin of Peru declares independence from Spain.
- 1914 – Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia starting WWI.
- 1928 – IX Summer Olympics open. The IX Summer Olympics opened in Amsterdam.
- 1932 – The Bonus March eviction in Washington, D.C., occurred as U.S. Army troops under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, Major Dwight D. Eisenhower and Major George S. Patton, attacked and burned the encampments of unemployed World War I veterans. About 15,000 veterans had marched on Washington, demanding payment of a war bonus they had been promised. After two months’ encampment in Washington’s Anacostia Flats, forced eviction of the bonus marchers by the U.S. Army was ordered by President Herbert Hoover.
- 1943 – During World War II, a firestorm killed 42,000 civilians in Hamburg, Germany. The firestorm occurred after 2,326 tons of bombs and incendiaries were dropped by the Allies.
- 1945 – A US Army bomber accidentally crashes into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building.
- 1958 – National Aeronautics and Space Act is passed by the US Congress. The act established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
- 2005 – IRA Army Council Announces End to Armed Campaign. The Provisional Irish Republican Army, also known as IRA, announced an end to its armed campaign in the group’s effort to free Northern Ireland from United Kingdom’s rule.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1866 – Beatrix Potter (Author of Peter Rabbit)
- 1902 – Karl Popper (Austrian/English philosopher)
- 1929 – Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (First Lady to President John F. Kennedy)
- 1938 – Alberto Fujimori (Peruvian politician)
- 1943 – Bill Bradley (NBA basketball player and US Senator)
- 1945 – Jim Davis (Cartoonist – Garfield)
- 1948 – Sally Struthers (Actress)
- 1954 – Hugo ChΓ‘vez (Venezuelan military officer, politician, President of Venezuela)
- 1990 – Soulja Boy (American rapper, producer, actor)
DEATHS
- 1540 – Thomas Cromwell (English statesman)
- 1741 – Antonio Vivaldi (Italian violinist, composer)
- 1750 – Johann Sebastian Bach (German organist, composer)
- 1968 – Otto Hahn (German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate)
- 2004 – Francis Crick (English biologist, biophysicist, neuroscientist, Nobel Prize laureate)