EVENTS
- 1895 – The Kiel Canal is opened by German Emperor Wilhelm II. The 98 km (61 mi) long canal in Northern Germany is one of the world’s busiest artificial waterways. It connects the North Sea with the Baltic Sea.
- 1898 – Guam becomes a U.S. territory.
- 1963 – Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini becomes Pope Paul VI. The Italian pontiff is known for completing the Second Vatican Council, addressing the Roman Catholic Church’s relationship with the modern world.
Pope Paul VI - 1964 – Three white civil rights workers – James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner – left Meridian, Mississippi, at 9 a.m. to investigate a church burning. They were expected back by 4 p.m. When they failed to return, a search was begun. Their murdered bodies were discovered on August 4th.
- 1985 – The body of Josef Mengele is identified. An international team of scientists confirmed that the skeletal remains found in a cemetery in Embu, Brazil are those of the Nazi war criminal. Mengele was a physician in the Auschwitz concentration camp and conducted horrific experiments on some of the inmates.
- 1997 – The WNBA plays it’s first basketball game.
- 2003 – J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is published.
- 2004 – The first privately funded spacecraft, SpaceShipOne, reaches space.
- 2009 – Greenland assumes self-rule. The island had been administered by Denmark (earlier Denmark-Norway) for centuries. The Self-Government Act grants Greenland full responsibility for its inner affairs, while Denmark retains control of foreign policy.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1002 – Pope Leo IX
- 1774 – Daniel D. Thompkins (6th Vice President of the United States)
- 1905 – French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) was born in Paris
- 1921 – Jane Russell (Actress)
- 1953 – Benazir Bhutto (Pakistani politician, first female Prime Minister of Pakistan)
Benazir Bhutto - 1964 – David Morrissey (English actor)
- 1925 – Maureen Stapleton (Actress)
- 1982 – Prince William (Heir to the British throne)
- 1986 – Lana Del Rey (American singer-songwriter, model)
DEATHS
- 1377 – Edward III of England
- 1527 – Niccolò Machiavelli (Italian historian, philosopher)
Niccolò Machiavelli - 1908 – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian composer)
- 1940 – Smedley Butler (American marine general)
- 1970 – Sukarno (Indonesian politician, 1st President of Indonesia)
