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1253 - Mindaugas is crowned king of Lithuania.

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

1483 - Richard III is crowned king of England.

1484 - Portuguese sea captain Diogo Cão finds the mouth of 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, author of Utopia and one time Lord Chancellor of England, is executed for treason by King Henry VIII after refusing to agree to Henrys' decision to separate the English church from the Roman Catholic church.

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.

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.

1799 - Ranjit Singh's 25,000 men start their march towards Lahore.

1801 - Battle of Algeciras: The French navy defeats the British Royal Navy.

1854 - In Jackson, Michigan, the first convention of the U.S. 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 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 by an airship.

1928 - The world's ten largest hailstones fall in Potter, Nebraska.

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

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

1942 - Anne Frank and her family went into hiding in the "Secret Annex" 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.

1946 - The Bikini was first made, worn, and created.

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

1957 - John Lennon and Paul McCartney of The Beatles meet for the first time at the Woolton Parish Church Garden Fete, Liverpool.

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.

1974 - The radio program A Prairie Home Companion makes its first live broadcast.

1975 - The Comoros declare independence from France.

1980 - Pope John Paul II prays in Salvador, Brazil

1985 - The National Wrestling Alliance has its first ever Great American Bash Pay-Per View.

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 were killed as an Arab assaulted the bus driver as the bus was driving by the edge of a cliff.

2003 - The Corsicans rejected a referendum for increased autonomy from France by a very thin majority: 50.98 percent against, and 49.02 percent for.

2004 - John Kerry names John Edwards his as his Vice Presidential running mate on the Democratic Party ticket.

2005 - Time Magazine reporter Matt Cooper agrees to testify to a grand jury that Karl Rove revealed to him Valerie Plame's secret CIA identity.

2005 - Bob Geldof and Bono meet with the G8 in Gleneagles to discuss increasing aid to Africa. Afterwards, both make appearances at the Edinburgh 50,000 concert, a last concert in the Live 8 series.

2005 - The International Olympic Committee announced that London will host the 2012 Summer Olympics

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

2006 - Felipe Calderon is elected President of Mexico after a very close election.

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1686 - Antoine de Jussieu, French naturalist (d. 1758)

1747 - John Paul Jones, American naval commander (d. 1792)

1766 - Alexander Wilson, Scottish-born naturalist (d. 1813)

1785 - William Jackson Hooker, English botanist (d. 1865)

1796 - Tsar Nicholas I of Russia (d. 1855)

1817 - Albert von Kölliker, Swiss anatomist (d. 1905)

1818 - Adolf Anderssen, German chess player (d. 1879)

1837 - Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar, Indian Scholar (d. 1925)

1838 - Vatroslav Jagic, Croatian scholar (d. 1923)

1859 - Verner von Heidenstam, Nobel laureate (d. 1940)

1878 - Eino Leino, Finnish poet (d. 1926)

1884 - Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, member of the Vanderbilt family (d. 1970)

1885 - Ernst Busch, German field marshal (d. 1945)

1898 - Hanns Eisler, German composer (d. 1962)

1903 - Hugo Theorell, Nobel laureate (d. 1982)

1904 - Erik Wickberg, Salvation Army general (d. 1996)

1907 - Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter (d. 1954)

1912 - Heinrich Harrer, Austrian mountaineer (d. 2006)

1917 - Arthur Lydiard, New Zealand Running Coach (d. 2004)

1918 - Sebastian Cabot, English actor (d. 1977)

1919 - Ernst Haefliger, Swiss singer

1921 - Nancy Reagan, First Lady of the United States

1923 - Wojciech Jaruzelski, President of Poland

1925 - Merv Griffin, American television show host

1925 - Bill Haley, American singer (d. 1981)

1927 - Jan Hein Donner, Dutch chess player

1927 - Janet Leigh, American actress (d. 2004)

1927 - Pat Paulsen, American comedian (d. 1997)

1931 - Della Reese, American singer

1933 - Frank Austin, English footballer

1935 - Tenzin Gyatso, 14h Dalai Lama

1936 - Dave Allen, Irish comedian (d. 2005)

1937 - Vladimir Ashkenazy, Russian conductor

1937 - Ned Beatty, American actor

1937 - Gene Chandler, American singer

1940 - Jeannie Seely, American singer

1940 - Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kazakhstan

1945 - Burt Ward, American actor

1946 - George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States

1946 - Sylvester Stallone, American actor

1946 - Peter Singer, Australian philosopher

1947 - Lance Clemons, baseball player

1948 - Brad Park, Canadian hockey player

1949 - Phyllis Hyman, American singer (d. 1995)

1950 - John Byrne, American comic book author & artist

1951 - Geoffrey Rush, Australian actor

1953 - Nanci Griffith, American singer

1955 - Frank Sontag, American radio personality

1955 - William Wall, Irish writer

1956 - Casey Sander, American actor

1958 - Jennifer Saunders, British actress

1959 - Richard Dacoury, French basketball player

1963 - Stuart Garrard, English guitarist

1963 - Todd Burns, Baseball player

1963 - Lance Johnson, baseball player

1966 - Brian Posehn, American actor

1967 - Heather Nova, Bermudian singer

1967 - Omar Olivares, baseball player

1969 - Fernando Redondo, Argentine footballer

1970 - Inspectah Deck, American rapper

1970 - Martin Smith, English singer

1972 - D-Styles, American scratch DJ

1974 - Ze Roberto, Brazilian footballer

1975 - 50 Cent, American rapper

1977 - Craig Handley, British film director

1978 - Tia Mowry and Tamera Mowry, American actresses

1978 - Kevin Senio, New Zealand rugby player

1983 - Gregory Smith, Canadian actor

1986 - Derrick Williams, American football player

1987 - Caroline Trentini, Brazilian model

1994 - Rebecca Rosso and Camilla Rosso, twin British-born actresses

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1189 - King Henry II of England (b. 1133)

1218 - Eudes III, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1166)

1249 - King Alexander II of Scotland (b. 1198)

1415 - Jan Hus, Bohemian reformer (b. 1369)

1476 - Regiomantus, German astronomer (b. 1436)

1480 - Antonio Squarcialupi, Italian composer (b. 1416)

1533 - Ludovico Ariosto, Italian poet (b. 1474)

1535 - Sir Thomas More, English philosopher (b. 1478)

1553 - King Edward VI of England (b. 1537)

1583 - Edmund Grindal, Archbishop of Canterbury

1585 - Thomas Aufield, English Catholic martyr (b. 1552)

1684 - Peter Gunning, English royalist churchman (b. 1614)

1758 - George Howe, 3rd Viscount Howe, British general

1762 - Tsar Peter III of Russia (b. 1728)

1768 - Conrad Beissel, German-born religious leader (b. 1690)

1813 - Granville Sharp, British abolitionist (b. 1735)

1835 - John Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1755)

1854 - Georg Ohm, German physicist (b. 1789)

1868 - Sanosuke Harada, Shinsengumi Captain (b. 1840)

1893 - Guy de Maupassant, French author (b. 1850)

1901 - Prince Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1819)

1902 - St. Maria Goretti, Italian saint (b. 1890)

1916 - Odilon Redon, French painter (b. 1840)

1922 - Maria Theresa Ledochowska, Polish-Austrian Catholic nun (b. 1863)

1932 - Kenneth Grahame, English author (b. 1859)

1960 - Aneurin Bevan, British politician (b. 1897)

1961 - Scott LaFaro, American musician (b. 1936)

1961 - Woodall Rodgers, American politician (b. 1890)

1962 - William Faulkner, American writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1897)

1962 - Archduke Joseph August of Austria, Austrian field marshal (b. 1872)

1966 - Sad Sam Jones, American baseball player (b. 1892)

1971 - Louis Armstrong, American musician (b. 1901)

1972 - Brandon De Wilde, American actor (b. 1942)

1973 - Otto Klemperer, German conductor (b. 1885)

1982 - Bob Johnson, American baseball player (b. 1905)

1986 - Jagjivan Ram, Indian politician (b. 1908)

1989 - János Kádár, Hungarian politician (b. 1912)

1998 - Roy Rogers, American actor (b. 1911)

1999 - Carl Gunter Jr, American politician (b. 1938)

1999 - Joaquin Rodrigo, Spanish composer (b. 1901)

1999 - Barry Winchell, American soldier (b. 1977)

2002 - Dhirubhai Ambani, Indian businessman (b. 1932)

2002 - John Frankenheimer, American film director (b. 1930)

2003 - Buddy Ebsen, American actor (b. 1908)

2004 - Thomas Klestil, President of Austria (b. 1932)

2005 - L. Patrick Gray III, American FBI director (b. 1916)

2005 - Claude Simon, French writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1913)

2005 - Richard Verreau, Canadian tenor (b. 1926)

2005 - Bruno Augenstein, German-born mathematician (b. 1923)

2006 - Kasey Rogers, American motocross racer (b. 1926)

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Comoros - Independence Day (1975).

Czech Republic - Jan Hus Day (1415).

Feast day of St Maria Goretti.

Lithuania - Statehood Day.

Malawi - Independence Day (1964).

Malawi - Republic Day (1966).

Roman festivals: Ludi Apollinares, games in honour of Apollo (since 208 BC) began today.

San Fermin a Spanish Catholic festival centered in Pamplona begins today.

Music festival EXIT begins today in Serbian town of Novi Sad.