I like this day. Here’s a rundown.


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1044
The Battle of Ménfő takes place.

1189
Richard the 1st (Richard the Lionheart) is crowned King of England.

1253
Mindaugas is crowned King of Lithuania.

1348
Papal bull of Pope Clement VI protecting Jews during the Black Death.

1415
Jan Hus is burned at the stake.

1483
Richard III is crowned King of England.

1484
Portuguese sea captain Diogo Cão finds the mouth of the Congo River.

1495
First Italian War: Battle of Fornovo: Charles VIII defeats the Holy League, but ultimately ends his attempted conquest of Italy.

1535
Sir Thomas More is executed for treason against King Henry VIII.

1560
The Treaty of Edinburgh is signed by Scotland and England.

1573
Córdoba, Argentina, is founded by Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera.

1609
Bohemia is granted freedom of religion.

1630
Thirty-Years War: 4,000 Swedish troops under Gustavus Adolphus land in Pomerania, Germany.

1751
Pope Benedict XIV suppresses the Patriarchate of Aquileia and establishes from its territory the archdiocese of Udine and Gorizia.

1777
American Revolutionary War: Battle of Ticonderoga: Due to a bombardment by British artillery under General John Burgoyne, American forces retreat from Fort Ticonderoga, New York.

1785
The dollar is unanimously chosen as the monetary unit for the United States.

1801
Battle of Algeciras: The French navy are defeated by the British Royal Navy.

1809
The second day of the Battle of Wagram sees a French victory over the Austrian army in the largest battle yet of the Napoleonic Wars.

1854
In Jackson, Michigan, the first convention of the United States Republican Party is held.

1885
Louis Pasteur successfully tests his vaccine against rabies. The patient is Joseph Meister, a boy who was bitten by a rabid dog.

1887
David Kalakaua, monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, is forced at gunpoint, at the hands of the Americans, to sign the Bayonet Constitution giving Americans more power in Hawaii while stripping Hawaiian citizens of their rights.

1892
Dadabhai Naoroji elected as first Indian Member of Parliament in Britain.

1892
3,800 striking steelworkers engage in a day-long battle with Pinkerton agents during the Homestead Strike, leaving 10 dead and dozens wounded.

1893
The small town of Pomeroy, Iowa, is nearly destroyed by a tornado that kills 71 people and injures 200.

1905
Alfred Deakin becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the second time.

1908
Robert Peary sets sail for the Arctic on the expedition on which he later reaches the North Pole.

1917
World War I: Arabian troops led by Lawrence of Arabia and Auda ibu Tayi capture Aqaba from the Turks during the Arab Revolt.

1919
The British dirigible R34 lands in New York, completing the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by an airship.

1933
The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game is played in Chicago's Comiskey Park. The American League defeats the National League, 4-2.

1936
A major breach of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal in England sends millions of gallons of water cascading 200 feet into the River Irwell.

1939
Holocaust: The last remaining Jewish enterprises in Germany are closed.

1942
Anne Frank and her family went into hiding in the "Secret Annexe" above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse.

1944
The Hartford Circus Fire, one of America's worst fire disasters, kills approximately 168 people and injures over 700 in Hartford, Connecticut.

1947
The AK-47 goes into production in the Soviet Union.

1957
Althea Gibson wins the Wimbledon championships, becoming the first black athlete to do so.

1957
John Lennon and Paul McCartney (The Beatles) first meet at St. Peter's Church garden fete in Liverpool, England.

1962
Nuclear test shot Sedan; part of Operation Plowshare.

1964
Malawi declares its independence from the United Kingdom.

1966
Malawi becomes a republic, with Hastings Banda as the first President.

1967
Biafran War: Nigerian forces invade Biafra, beginning the war.

1975
The Comoros declare independence from France.

1978
The Taunton sleeping car fire occurred in Taunton, Somerset killing twelve people.

1986
Davis Phinney became the first American cyclist to win a road stage of the Tour de France.

1988
The Piper Alpha drilling platform in the North Sea is destroyed by explosions and fires. 167 oil workers are killed, making it the world's worst offshore oil disaster.

1989
The Israeli 405 Bus slaughter in which 14 bus passengers are killed when an Arab assaulted the bus driver as the bus is driving by the edge of a cliff.

1998
Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport is closed and the new Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok becomes operational.

2003
The 70-meter Eupatoria Planetary Radar sends a METI message Cosmic Call 2 to 5 stars: Hip 4872, HD 245409, 55 Cancri, HD 10307 and 47 Ursae Majoris that will arrive to these stars in 2036, 2040, 2044, 2044 and 2049 respectively.

2006
The Nathula Pass between India and China, sealed during the Sino-Indian War, re-opens for trade after 44 years.

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And all of that is a heck of a lot more interesting than what it has to do with me.

(Yes, it's my birthday)