Events
of the day
International
Small Arms Destruction Day
455
– Roman military commander Avitus
is proclaimed Emperor of the Western
Roman Empire.
491 – Odoacer makes a night assault
with his Heruli guardsmen, engaging
Theodoric the Great in Ad Pinetam.
Both sides suffer heavy losses,
but in the end Theodoric forces
Odoacer back into Ravenna.
869 – A magnitude 8.6Ms earthquake
and subsequent tsunami strikes
the area around Sendai in the
northern part of Honshu, Japan.
1357 – Emperor Charles IV assists
in laying the foundation stone
of Charles Bridge in Prague.
1386 – The Old Swiss Confederacy
makes great strides in establishing
control over its territory by
soundly defeating the Archduchy
of Austria in the Battle of Sempach.
1540 – King Henry VIII of England
annuls his marriage to his fourth
wife, Anne of Cleves.
1572 – Nineteen Catholics suffer
martyrdom for their beliefs in
the Dutch town of Gorkum.
1701 – War of the Spanish Succession:
Austrians defeat France in the
Battle of Carpi.
1745 – War of the Austrian Succession:
French victory in the Battle of
Melle allows them to capture Ghent
in the days after.
1755 – French and Indian War:
Braddock Expedition – British
troops and colonial militiamen
are ambushed and suffer a devastating
defeat by French and Native American
forces.
1776 – George Washington ordered
the Declaration of Independence
to be read out loud to members
of the Continental Army in New
York City for the first time.
1789 – In Versailles, the National
Assembly reconstitutes itself
as the National Constituent Assembly
and begins preparations for a
French constitution.
1790 – Russo-Swedish War: Second
Battle of Svensksund – in the
Baltic Sea, the Swedish Navy captures
one third of the Russian fleet.
1793 – The Act Against Slavery
is passed in Upper Canada and
the importation of slaves into
Lower Canada is prohibited.
1807 – The Treaties of Tilsit
are signed by Napoleon I of France
and Alexander I of Russia.
1810 – Napoleon annexes the Kingdom
of Holland as part of the First
French Empire.
1811 – Explorer David Thompson
posts a sign at the confluence
of the Columbia and Snake Rivers
(in modern Washington state, US),
claiming the land for the United
Kingdom.
1815 – Talleyrand becomes the
first Prime Minister of France.
1816 – Argentina declares independence
from Spain.
1821 – 470 prominent Cypriots
including Archbishop Kyprianos
are executed in response to Cypriot
aid to the Greek War of Independence
1850 – U.S. President Zachary
Taylor dies and Millard Fillmore
becomes the 13th President of
the United States.
1850 – The Persian prophet Báb
is executed in Tabriz, Persia.
1863 – American Civil War: the
Siege of Port Hudson ends.
1868 – The 14th Amendment to the
United States Constitution is
ratified guaranteeing African
Americans full citizenship and
all persons in the United States
due process of law.
1875 – Outbreak of the Herzegovina
Uprising against Ottoman rule,
which would last until 1878 and
have far-reaching implications
throughout the Balkans
1877 – The inaugural Wimbledon
Championships opens.
1900 – Queen Victoria of the United
Kingdom gives royal assent to
an Act creating the Commonwealth
of Australia thus uniting separate
colonies on the continent under
one federal government.
1900 – Boxer Rebellion: The Governor
of Shanxi province in North China
orders the execution of 45 foreign
Christian missionaries and local
church members, including children.
1918 – Great train wreck of 1918:
in Nashville, Tennessee, an inbound
local train collides with an outbound
express killing 101 and injuring
171 people, making it the deadliest
rail accident in United States
history.
1922 – Johnny Weissmuller swims
the 100 meters freestyle in 58.6
seconds breaking the world swimming
record and the 'minute barrier'.
1932 – The state of São Paulo
revolts against the Brazilian
Federal Government, starting the
Constitutionalist Revolution
1943 – World War II: Operation
Husky – Allied forces perform
an amphibious invasion of Sicily.
1944 – World War II: Battle of
Normandy – British and Canadian
forces capture Caen, France.
1944 – World War II: Battle of
Saipan – American forces take
Saipan in the Mariana Islands.
1944 – World War II: Battle of
Tali-Ihantala – Finland wins the
Battle of Tali-Ihantala, the largest
battle ever fought in northern
Europe. The Red Army withdraws
its troops from Ihantala and digs
into defensive position, thus
ending the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk
Offensive.
1955 – The Russell-Einstein Manifesto
is released by Bertrand Russell
in London.
1958 – Lituya Bay is hit by a
mega-tsunami. The wave is recorded
at 524 meters high, the largest
in recorded history.
1961 – Turkish voters approve
the Turkish Constitution of 1961
in a referendum.
1962 – The Starfish Prime high-altitude
nuclear test is conducted by the
United States of America.
1962 – Andy Warhol's Campbell's
Soup Cans exhibition opens at
the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles.
1972 – The Troubles: In Belfast,
British Army snipers shoot five
civilians dead in the Springhill
Massacre.
1979 – A car bomb destroys a Renault
motor car owned by famed "Nazi
hunters" Serge and Beate
Klarsfeld at their home in France.
A note purportedly from ODESSA
claims responsibility.
1982 – Pan Am Flight 759 crashes
in Kenner, Louisiana killing all
145 people on board and eight
others on the ground.
1986 – The Parliament of New Zealand
passes the Homosexual Law Reform
Act legalising homosexuality in
New Zealand.
1995 – The Navaly church bombing
is carried out by the Sri Lankan
Air Force killing 125 Tamil civilian
refugees.
1999 – Days of student protests
begin after Iranian police and
hardliners attack a student dormitory
at the University of Tehran.
2006 – At least 122 people are
killed after a Sibir Airlines
Airbus A310 passenger jet, carrying
200 passengers veers off the runway
while landing in wet conditions
at Irkutsk Airport in Siberia.
2011 – South Sudan gains independence
and secedes from Sudan.
Holidays
and observances
Caprotinia
(Roman Empire)
Christian Feast Day:
Agilulfus of Cologne
Everilda
Bl Marija Petković
Martyr Saints of China
Martyrs of Gorkum
Our Lady of Peace, Octave of the
Visitation
Veronica Giuliani
July 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Constitution Day (Australia)
Constitution Day (Palau)
Constitutionalist Revolution Day
(São Paulo)
Independence Day, celebrates the
declaration of independence of
the United Provinces of South
America by the Congress of Tucumán
in 1816. (Argentina)
Independence Day (South Sudan)
Martyrdom of the Báb (Bahá'í Faith)
Nunavut Day (Nunavut)
For details, contact Datacentre
