EVENTS
- 1099 – The Siege of Jerusalem begins.
- 1914 – The Panama canal is opened.
Panama canal - 1929 – Vatican City becomes a sovereign state.
- 1965 – The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Connecticut law banning contraception. In Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court guaranteed the right to privacy, including freedom from government intrusion into matters of birth control.
- 1968 – The world’s first Legoland resort opens. The Legoland in Billund, Denmark was the first of six theme parks based around the Lego interlocking plastic bricks. Billund is the home of The Lego Group.
- 1975 – The first Cricket World Cup begins. England hosted the first edition of the event, which today has become one of the world’s most important sporting events. The West Indies entered the history books as the first Cricket World Champions.
- 1981 – Israel destroys Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactors. The attack, triggered by fears of a potential Iraqi atom bomb, prompted international criticism and is considered a political disaster as it caused the quarreling Arab states to unite against their common enemy, Israel.
- 1989 – A Surinam Airways jet crashes on landing in Paramaribo. The pilots were blamed for the disaster. They had attempted to land using the wrong navigation signal. Of the 187 people on board, 11 survived.
- 1993 – The Artist formerly known as Prince changes his name to a symbol.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1848 – French painter Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) was born in Paris
- 1909 – Jessica Tandy (Actress)
- 1940 – Tom Jones (Singer)
- 1942 – Muammar Gadhafi (Dictator of Libya)
- 1952 – Liam Neeson (Actor)
- 1952 – Orhan Pamuk (Turkish/American author, screenwriter, academic, Nobel Prize laureate)
Orhan Pamuk - 1958 – Prince (Singer)
- 1975 – Allan Iverson (Basketball Player)
- 1981 – Anna Kournikova (Tennis Player)
- 1905 – James J. Braddock (Boxer)
DEATHS
- 1329 – Robert the Bruce (Scottish king)
- 1954 – Alan Turing (English mathematician)
- 1967 – Dorothy Parker (American poet, writer)
Dorothy Parker - 1980 – Henry Miller (American author, painter)
- 2015 – Christopher Lee (English and singer)
