EVENTS
- 1588 – The Spanish Armada is spotted off the coast of England.
- 1776 – During the American Revolution, Francis Salvador became the first Jew to die in the conflict. He had also been the first Jew elected to office in Colonial America, voted a member of the South Carolina Provincial Congress in January 1775.
- 1790 – The U.S. Patent Office first opened its doors. The first U.S. patent was issued to Samuel Hopkins of Vermont for a new method of making pearlash and potash. The patent was signed by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
- 1917 – Third Battle of Ypres begins. Also known as the Battle of Passchendaele, the battle was part of World War I and took place between July 31 and November 6 for control of the Belgian city of Ypres.
- 1971 – Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover.
- 1981 – First female president of the US National Bar Association is appointed. Arnette R. Hubbard became the first woman to preside over the US National Bar Association, the country’s largest group of association of African-American lawyers and judges.
- 1991 – During the Cold War, the US and USSR sign Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. The treaty, also known as START I, limited the number of nuclear weapons and missiles the signatories could deploy. It came into force in December 1994, and expired 15 years later in 2009.
- 1992 – Thai Airways International Flight 311 crashes while approaching Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal. All 113 people onboard were killed in the crash.
- 1995 – Disney buys ABC.
- 1998 – The British government bans landmines. The move came after the public pressurized the parliament to pass the Landmines Act.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1816 – George Henry Thomas (Union General during the US Civil War)
- 1884 – Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (German politician)
- 1912 – Milton Friedman (American economist, Nobel Prize laureate)
- 1919 – Primo Levi (Italian chemist, author)
- 1958 – Mark Cuban (owner of the Dallas Mavericks / Entrepreneur)
- 1962 – Wesley Snipes (Actor)
- 1965 – JK Rowling (Novelist wrote Harry Potter)
- 1966 – Dean Cain (Actor)
- 1986 – Evgeni Malkin (Hockey player)
- 1979 – B.J. Novak (Actor from “The Office”)
- 1982 – DeMarcus Ware (Football Player)
DEATHS
- 1875 – Andrew Johnson (American politician, 17th President of the United States)
- 1944 – Antoine de Saint-ExupΓ©ry (French writer)
- 1964 – Jim Reeves (American singer-songwriter)
- 1980 – Mohammed Rafi (Indian actor, singer)
- 2012 – Gore Vidal (American author, screenwriter, actor)