EVENTS
- 1816 – Argentina declares independence from Spain.
- 1850 – President Zachary Taylor dies making Millard Fillmore the 13th President of the US.
- 1868 – The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. The Amendment defined U.S. citizenship and prohibited individual States from abridging the rights of any American citizen without due process and equal protection under the law. The Amendment also barred individuals involved in rebellion against the U.S. from holding public office.
- 1877 – The first Wimbledon Championship is held. The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London hosted the first Wimbledon championship, which was not only the first tennis championship held in England but was also a precursor to grand slam tournaments. 22 men competed in the championship and Spencer Gore became the first person to win the Wimbledon tournament.
First Wimbledon Championship - 1922 – Johnny Weissmuller is the first to swim the 100 meters freestyle in under 1 minute.
- 1944 – Battle of Normandy in WWII.
- 1958 – Lituya Bay megatsunami. A megatsunami, a tsunami whose waves are higher than a normal tsunami, hit Lituya Bay in Alaska, United States, resulting in a wave that was recorded to be 1,720 feet or 516 meters high. This is the highest wave recorded in history.
- 1962 – Andy Warhol’s iconic ‘Campbell’s Soup Cans’ make their debut. The Soup Cans were first displayed at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, California, and were instrumental in popularizing Pop Art in the United States.
- 1981 – Donkey Kong is released by Nintendo. Nintendo’s famous character Mario debuted as Jumpman in this popular arcade game.
- 2011 – South Sudan becomes the youngest country in the world. The North East African country, formally known as Republic of South Sudan peacefully seceded from Sudan after an independence referendum was passed. Since independence, however, the country has been wrecked with widespread ethnic violence and human rights violations.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1819 – Elias Howe (Invented the sewing machine)
- 1858 – Franz Boas (German anthropologist)
- 1932 – Donald Rumsfeld (American politician, 13th & 21st United States Secretary of Defense)
- 1947 – O.J. Simpson (Football player)
- 1950 – Viktor Yanukovych (Ukrainian politician, 4th President of Ukraine)
- 1956 – Tom Hanks (Actor)
Tom Hanks - 1959 – Kevin Nash (American wrestler, actor)
- 1964 – Courtney Love (Singer)
- 1975 – Jack White (Singer)
- 1976 – Fred Savage (Actor)
DEATHS
- 1737 – Gian Gastone de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
- 1797 – Edmund Burke (Irish politician, philosopher)
Edmund Burke - 1850 – Zachary Taylor (American general, politician, 12th President of the United States)
- 1850 – Báb (Iranian founder of ism)
- 1967 – Fatima Jinnah (Pakistani dentist, stateswoman, Leader of the Opposition)
