778 – Battle of Roncevaux Pass: Roland, commander of the rearguard of Charlemagne’s army is defeated by the Basques
927 – The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto.
1040 – King Duncan I of Scotland killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth (not murdered in his sleep as per Shakespeare’s play). The latter does succeed him as King.
1185 – The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia.
1248 – Construction of Cologne Cathedral begun
1308 – Johannieter knights conquer Rhodos on the Greece
1457 – Earliest dated book, “Mainz Psalter,” completed
1461 – The Empire of Trebizond surrenders to the forces of Sultan Mehmet II. This is regarded by some historians as the real end of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor David is exiled and later murdered.
1517 – Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by FernãoPires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary.
1519 – Panama City founded
1534 – Ignatius of Loyola forms society of Jesus/Jesuits
1537 – Asunción, Paraguay, is founded.
1540 – Arequipa, Peru, is founded.
1548 – Mary queen of Scotland (6) arrives in France
1549 – Jesuit priest Saint Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: July 22, 1549).
1599 – Nine Years War: Battle of Curlew Pass – Irish forces led by Hugh Roe O’Donnell successfully ambush English forces, led by Sir Conyers Clifford, sent to relieve Collooney Castle.
1620 – Mayflower sets sail from Southampton with 102 Pilgrims
1635 – 1st recorded US hurricane hit the Plymouth Colony
1653 – Dutch ship “Sperwer” stranded at Tsjedzjoe Korea
1658 – France/Sweden/Bavarian/Brunswick/Munster/Hessen-Kassel form Confederation of the Rhine
1668 – Confederation of the Rhine disbands
1684 – Spain & Germany sign cease fire with France
1741 – French troops attack the Rhine
1748 – United Lutheran Church the American colonies organized
1760 – Battle at Leignitz: Prussia beats Austria & Russia
1785 – French cardinal De Rohan arrested
1848 – M Waldo Hanchett patents dental chair
1863 – The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863).
1870 – Transcontinental Railway actually completed in Colorado
1891 – San Sebastian Church in Manila, the first all-steel church in Asia, is officially inaugurated and blessed.
1900 – In China, the Empress and some of her family, the court, and retainers flee while foreign troops move through Peking in an attempt to put down the Boxer Rebellion
1906 – 1st freight delivery tunnel system begins, underneath Chicago
1906 – Kind Edward VII of Britain visits Emperor Wilhelm in Germany to discuss the escalating rivalry between their nations’ naval forces
1914 – Panama Canal opens (under cost)
1914 – A male servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright sets fire to the living quarters of the architect’s Wisconsin home, Taliesin, murders seven people and burns the living quarters to the ground.
1939 – “The Wizard of Oz”, premieres at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, starring Judy Garland (Dorothy), Ray Bolger (Scarecrow), Jack Haley (Tin Man), Bert Lahr (Cowardly Lion), Frank Morgan (Wizard), Billie Burke (Glinda), and Margaret Hamilton (Wicked Witch)
1940 – 1st edition of Jewish Weekly newspaper in Amsterdam (under Nazis)
1945 – Victory over Japan Day, the Japanese surrender and the end of WWII is announced in Japan (due to time zones 14th Aug in the Americas)
1947 – India gains independence from Great Britain, remains a dominion until 1950
1948 – Republic of Korea (South Korea) proclaimed (National Day)
1950 – 8.6 earthquake in India kills 20,000 to 30,000
1950 – Srikakulam district is formed in Andhra Pradesh, India.
1971 – Bahrain gains independence from Britain
1985 – First Iraqi air raid on Iran’s main oil export terminal, Kharg Island
2007 – An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru killing 514 and injuring 1,090.
2008 – Lee Berger and his nine-year-old son, Matthew, discover the two-million-year-old fossils of a new species of human ancestor (Australopithecus sediba) at Malapa Cave, South Africa
2015 – North Korea creates its own times zone -moving its clocks back half an hour to GMT+8.5
By: Archa Dave
