EVENTS
- 1836 – The Arc de Triomphe is inaugurated in Paris.
- 1948 – The XIV Olympics opened in London, United Kingdom after a 12 year hiatus due to the Second World War. The last Summer Olympics before this were held in Berlin in 1936.
- 1954 – “The Fellowship of the Ring”, the first part of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, is published.
- 1957 – The International Atomic Energy Agency is established. The independent agency aims to ban the use of nuclear energy for military purposes. American W. Sterling Cole served as the agency’s first director general.
- 1958 – The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is created.
- 1981 – Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer. The most talked about wedding of the year was watched on television by millions of people worldwide. The couple were married in St Paul’s Cathedral, London, United Kingdom, and divorced 15 years later in 1996.
The Wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles - 2005 – Astronomers announce the discovery of a 10th planet, 2003 UB313.
- 2008 – United States Congress apologizes for slavery. The U.S. House of Representatives publicly apologized for the institution of slavery and Jim Crow laws that discriminated against African Americans.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1805 – Alexis de Tocqueville (French historian, scientist)
- 1883 – Benito Mussolini (Italian dictator in WW2)
- 1905 – Dag Hammarskjöld (Swedish diplomat, economist, author, 2nd Secretary-General of the United Nations, Nobel Prize Laureate)
Dag Hammarskjöld - 1938 – Peter Jennings (TV Anchor)
- 1953 – Geddy Lee (Singer for Rush)
- 1966 – Martina McBride (Country singer)
- 1972 – Will Wheaton (Actor)
- 1973 – Stephen Dorff (Actor)
- 1981 – Fernando Alonso (Spanish race car driver)
DEATHS
- 1833 – William Wilberforce (English politician, philanthropist)
- 1890 – Vincent van Gogh (Dutch painter)
- 1970 – John Barbirolli (English cellist, conductor)
John Barbirolli - 1974 – Erich Kästner (German author, poet)
- 1983 – Luis Buñuel (Spanish director, producer)
