The h2g2 Calendar - 7 - July
Created | Updated Dec 23, 2012
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1
Every year - Canada Day.
1644 - Rupert relieves York during the English Civil War. Also relieved is York Castle.
1863 - The PS Chancellor runs aground at Ventnor Piers, Isle of Wight, UK.
1863 - The first day of the Battle of Gettysburg; the fallen are later commemorated in The Gettysburg Address.
1912 - Harriet Quimby, the first woman to die in an air crash, falls out of the cockpit of her Bleriot monoplane during a maneuver in an air show in Massachusetts, reportedly because she didn't put on seatbelts.
1941 - Joe DiMaggio hits his way into the record books in another Great Moment in Baseball.
1950 - Nobody is badly hurt in a highly original accident in the London Underground Edgware Road station, when the first part of a District line train is directed to platform 2 and the last part is directed to platform 1.
1960 - The George C Marshall Space Flight Centre is formed, later playing a role in the Apollo Missions.
1964 - President Johnson appoints General Maxwell D Taylor as ambassador to South Vietnam, during the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War.
1967 - Do you ever wonder What it Was Like in the 1960s? On this date, a limited service of certain colour TV programmes begins in the UK.
1969 - Prince Charles was invested as Prince of Wales.
2001 - Celebrated as Cal Ripken Jr Day in the USA.
2006 - The Qinghai-Tibet railway opens in China.
2007 - Smoking is banned in all public indoor spaces in England.
2
1644 - The Battle of Marston Moor, the bloodiest of the Civil War, occurred near York Castle. On the way to battle, Prince Rupert's troops muster at Didsbury, South Manchester.
1863 - Second day of the Battle of Gettysburg; the fallen are later commemorated in The Gettysburg Address.
1874 - Dr Galati's lemon grove warden is shot near Palermo, an event marking the birth of the Sicilian Mafia.
1925 - Patrice Lumumba, the Democratic Republic of Congo's first and only elected Prime Minister is born.
1940 - Hitler orders an update of invasion plans for the Battle of Britain.
1971 - Evonne Goolagong becomes the first Aborigine to win the Wimbledon singles tennis title.
1982 - 'Lawn Chair' Larry Walters turns himself into a legend when he starts his balloon flight strapped to a lawn chair.
2002 - Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly solo around the world non-stop in a balloon.
2005 - The biggest rock concert in history, Live 8, takes place. Shows take place almost simultaneously in London, Philadelphia, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Barrie (near Toronto), Tokyo, Moscow and Johannesburg.
3
1814 - Fort Erie is captured during the War of 1812.
1863 - Third day of the Battle of Gettysburg; the fallen are later commemorated in The Gettysburg Address.
1938 - In England, the Mallard sets the world speed record for a steam railway locomotive: 126mph (203km/h).
1960 - Vince Clarke, a songwriter for the bands Depeche Mode, Yazoo and Erasure, is born.
1966 - The highest temperature ever recorded in south-central Pennsylvania.
2000 - The single 'Sunday Morning Call' is released by the band Oasis.
4
Every year - American Independence Day, one of the great dates in history and a date inscribed on the tablet held by the Statue of Liberty.
1054 - Ancient Chinese astronomers discover the Crab Nebula.
1825 - Construction of the Ohio and Erie Canal begins.
1865 - Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is published.
1886 - The people of France offer the Statue of Liberty to the people of the USA.
1914 - King Tupou IV of Tonga, the heaviest monarch in the world, is born.
1939 - The Yankee stadium celebrate Lou Gehrig Day, another great moment in baseball. Lou Gehrig's farewell speech is still regarded as a Great Sporting Achievement.
1936 - Polish national hero, former Prime Minister and leader of the UK-based Polish exile government Wladyslaw Sikorski dies in an air crash when his Consolidated B-24C Liberator crashes into the sea near Gibraltar.
1947 - The Roswell incident takes place at some point between today and 6 July 1947.
1999 - David Beckham marries former Spice Girl Victoria Adams, aka 'Posh Spice'.
5
1687 - Sir Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.
1824 - The body of Lord Byron arrives in London.
1909 - Marion Dunlop, co-suffragette of Emmeline Pankhurst, is the first to use a hunger strike towards their cause.
1942 - The sister of Anne Frank receives her call-up.
1954 - Elvis Presley records the song, 'That's All Right'.
1954 - The BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin.
2002 - Ted Williams, the baseball legend, dies.
6
Every year - The week-long Running of the Bulls begins in Pamplona, Spain.
1469 - Warwick, Isabel and Clarence crossed to Calais in the prelude to 'The Second War of the Roses'.
1545 - The Carraquon, part of the French Armada that would later attack the Mary Rose off the Isle of Wight, explodes when the cook accidentally sets fire to the vessel.
1775 - The Declaration of Arms is signed in America, approving armed resistance to the policies of Parliament, and leading to The Declaration of Independence one year later.
1854 - The first official Republican meeting in Jackson, Michigan USA takes place.
1885 - Louis Pasteur successfully tests his vaccine against rabies on Joseph Meister, a boy who was bitten by a rabid dog.
1917 - During World War I, Arabian troops led by Lawrence of Arabia and Auda ibu Tayi capture Aqaba from the Turks.
1935 - Birthday of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso.
1942 - My Gal Sal, one of the B-17 Flying Fortresses is rescued.
7
1798 - American Congress cancels all existing treaties with France, triggering the 'Quasi-War'.
1865 - Four conspirators in the assassination of US president Abraham Lincoln are hanged.
1940 - The Beatles' drummer Ringo Starr is born Richard Starkey in Liverpool, England.
1955 - Disneyland opens its gates for the first time, a fantastical world designed by Disney animator John Hench.
1996 - The Stonehenge Julia Set, one of the most famous crop circles, is first reported.
1997 - The band Oasis release the single 'D'You Know What I Mean'.
2005 - Three bombs explode almost simultaneously on the London Underground, with a fourth following on a bus an hour later.
2005 - Influenced by Live 8, leaders of the G8 group of nations pledge to double 2004 levels of aid to Africa from $25 billion to $50 billion by 2010.
2006 - Syd Barrett, original songwriter, guitarist and vocalist in the band Pink Floyd, dies (b. 1946).
8
975 - Edgar the Peaceful dies.
1648 - The Scots cross the border in the English Civil War.
1680 - The first confirmed tornado in 'America' since the arrival of Europeans kills a servant in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1709 - In the Great Northern War, Peter I of Russia defeats Charles XII of Sweden at Poltava, effectively ending Sweden's role as a major power in Europe.
1776 - The Liberty bell is rung to summon people to a public reading of the Declaration of Independence.
1822 - Shelley makes an ill-fated boat trip in Byron's Don Juan.
1947 - Reports are broadcast that a UFO has crashed landed in Roswell, New Mexico, USA.
1978 - Martina Navratilova wins the Wimbledon Ladies Singles for the first time.
1991 - David Beckham signs as a trainee for Manchester United FC.
1994 - John Valentin makes a Triple Play. Good for him!
9
1867 - An expedition led by ED Young sets out to search (unsuccessfully) for the Scottish missionary and explorer Dr David Livingstone.
1937 - British painter David Hockney is born.
1868 - The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution is ratified, defining United States citizenship and providing that no State should have the right to curtail the rights of any citizen without due process and equal protection under the law.
1980 - A London Underground train sitting at Holborn station is hit by the following train, but nobody except the driver is badly injured.
1991 - South Africa is re-admitted into the Olympic movement after being excluded for 30 years.
10
1809 - Byron and Hobhouse watch the British troops in Lisbon while sightseeing.
1925 - In Dayton, Tennessee, USA, the so-called 'Monkey Trial' begins, with high school science teacher John T Scopes accused of teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.
1941 - The German forces cross the River Dnieper during their invasion of the USSR.
1941 - Jazz legend Jelly Roll Morton dies in Los Angeles, aged 50.
1954 - Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys is born.
1947 - The bull Semillero kills two people on the same run during the running of the bulls.
1964 - The Beatles' first album that contained entirely original material, A Hard Day's Night, is released in Great Britain.
1976 - Actor Mike Pratt, star of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), dies of lung cancer.
1997 - In London, scientists report their DNA analysis of a Neanderthal skeleton. This supports the 'Out of Africa' theory of human evolution, placing an 'African Eve' at 100,000 to 200,000 years ago.
1999 - A ceasefire is signed in the the Congolese Civil War, but fighting continues.
2031 - Birthdate of Edward Wilkie - aka Doctor Fawn - of the TV series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons.
11
1939 - Radar systems on the Isle of Wight give advance warning of large air raids on this date.
1962 - The Telstar satellite beams its first transmission across the Atlantic. Just one of many events in the 1960s.
1972 - A north Vietnamese Army attack on An Loc is defeated by south Vietnamese troops, during the Vietnam War.
1979 - Skylab re-enters the atmosphere.
1982 - Italy wins the World Cup, captained by Dino Zoff.
1989 - Sir Laurence Olivier, the acclaimed English stage and screen actor, dies (b. 1907).
2006 - A series of bomb attacks kill 209 people in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India.
12
Every year - Loyalist communities celebrate the defeat of James II at the Battle of the Boyne, another Great Date in History. It's also celebrated in the Irish workers holiday, The Twelfth Week of July.
Circa 100 BC - Julius Caesar the Roman dictator is believed to have been born on either 12 or 13 July.
1782 - Wayne and his troops march into Savannah.
1804 - Alexander Hamilton, the first US secretary of the treasury, dies (b. 1755).
1912 - Charles Steward Rolls, known from the luxury car firm he founded with his companion Frederick Henry Royce, dies in an air crash during an air show in Bournemouth.
1943 - In the 'Battle of Prokhorovka', German and Soviet forces engage in the largest tank battle of all time.
13
Circa 100 BC - Julius Caesar the Roman dictator is believed to have been born on either 12 or 13 July.
1388 - Dona Branca is born, the first child of Philipa of Lancaster.
1643 - Victory at Roundway Down in the English Civil War.
1940 - An update of invasion plans are completed by General Hadler for the Battle of Britain.
1954 - The short-lived character of Pig Pen is introduced into Peanuts by cartoonist Charles Schulz.
1960 - Ian Hislop, the English writer, Private Eye editor and Have I Got News For You team captain, is born.
1972 - The Paris Peace Talks resume regarding the Vietnam War.
1980 - Antiquio kills two people in the running of the bulls.
1985 - The Live Aid benefit concert takes place in London, Philadelphia, Sydney, Moscow, and other cities.
14
Every year - The Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain wraps up a week-long festival.
664 - Eorcenbehrt dies, one of the Kings of Kent.
1644 - York surrenders during the English Civil War.
1789 - Widely believed to be the start date of the French Revolution, which later leads to the transient adoption of the the French Republican Calendar.
1795 - 'La Marseillaise' is established as the national song of the Republic by decree, following the French Revolution.
1811 - Byron arrives back in London after two years abroad.
1958 - The Iraq monarchy is massacred and overthrown, as mentioned in the song 'We Didn't Start the Fire'.
1969 - After Honduras lose a football match against El Salvador, rioting breaks out against Salvadoran migrant workers. Thousands of people subsequently die in what became known as the 'Football War'.
1972 - Jane Fonda makes an infamous anti-US speech from Hanoi, regarding the involvement of the US in the Vietnam War.
1998 - Richard McDonald, the US fast-food pioneer, dies (b. 1909).
2017 - Birthdate of Colonel White, a character in the TV series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons.
15
Every year - St Swithins Day; rain on this day is said to foretell rain for another 40 days, according to Weather Wisdom.
1381 - With the execution of rebel priest Kent Jack Ball in the marketplace of St Albans, the Peasant's Revolt ends.
1545 - Henry and his Privy Council move to Portsmouth to await the invading army, in the events leading up to the shipwreck of the Mary Rose.
1799 - The Rosetta Stone is found in the Egyptian village of Rosetta by French captain Pierre-François Bouchard.
1942 - Groucho Marx divorces Ruth Johnson.
1947 - The SR.A1, the world's only jet-flying boat, makes its maiden flight at Cowes on the Isle of Wight.
1956 - Ian Curtis, lead singer with the band Joy Division, is born (d. 1980).
1965 - The world premiere of Chichester Psalms.
1975 - Soyuz 19 launches.
1975 - Antone's Blues Club opens its doors for the first time in Austin, Texas.
16
622 - Start of the Muslim calendar; the day that Mohammed fled from Mecca to Medina.
1769 - Father Junipero Serra founds Mission San Diego de Alcalá, the first in California. It evolves into the city of San Diego.
1779 - The Battle of Stony Point, the most famous exploit of General 'Mad' Anthony Wayne, is fought in New York, USA.
1812 - The American Fort on Michilimackinac Island is taken without a fight during The War of 1812.
1921 - Australian Harry Hawker dies in an air crash while practising for the round-London Aerial Derby race when his plane catches fire for reasons that remain unknown.
1958 - Michael Flatley, Irish-born US dancer of Riverdance fame, is born.
1969 - It's lift-off for Apollo 11.
1981 - Singer/Songwriter Harry Chapin dies in a car crash on the Long Island Expressway.
2001 - Glasgow City Council comes out in defence of ruddy ducks.
17
1203 - The Fourth Crusade captures Constantinople. The Byzantine emperor Alexius III Angelus flees into exile.
1415 - Philipa of Lancaster dies of the plague.
1941 - Joe DiMaggio's winning streak runs out, another Great Moment in Baseball.
1946 - The Memphis Belle, one of the B-17 Flying Fortresses, is brought home to Memphis following the war.
1947 - Camilla Rosemary Shand, second wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, is born in London.
1948 - A London rail disaster happens when an express train from Edinburgh to King's Cross derails at New Southgate due to a track defect and travelling above speed limit.
1954 - Groucho Marx marries Eden Hartford.
1964 - The Republican Party selects Barry Goldwater as their presidential candidate; one of the central issues in the election is US involvement in the Vietnam War.
1967 - John Coltrane, the US musician, dies (b. 1926).
1975 - Apollo and Soyuz dock together.
18
1545 - The French Armada drops anchor off St Helens, in the events leading up to the shipwreck of the Mary Rose.
1823 - Byron sails from Genoa.
1918 - Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is born.
1921 - John Glenn is born.
1936 - The Spanish Civil War begins with an attempted coup on the Spanish Republic by Spanish officers led by Franco.
1966 - Gemini X, one of the Apollo Pathfinders, launches.
1970 - Gruff Rhys, lead singer of the welsh band Super Furry Animals, is born in Haverfordwest.
1972 - Some 118 people are killed when a plane crashes two minutes after taking off from London's Heathrow Airport.
19
1545 - The French Armada begins their attack, in the events leading up to the shipwreck of the Mary Rose.
1553 - Lady Jane Grey ended her 9 day reign and Mary Tudor became Queen.
1588 - The Spanish Armada enters English waters.
1843 - Brunel's steamship the SS Great Britain is launched, becoming the first ocean-going craft with an iron hull or screw propeller, as well as the largest vessel afloat in the world.
1863 - The battle near Buffington Island, in Ohio is fought.
1876 - Yarmouth Pier opens on the Isle of Wight.
1887 - The Bangor Castle becomes the first steamer to land at Ventnor Piers on the Isle of Wight.
1909 - Neal Ball becomes the first person to make an Unassisted Triple Play.
1947 - Brian May, guitarist in rock band Queen, is born.
1953 - John Glenn is nearly killed in a dog fight.
1975 - Apollo and Soyuz pull away from each other.
1994 - The pilot episode of TV Nation screened, one of the TV Shows of Michael Moore.
20
356 BC - Alexander the Great, the Macedonian-Greek king and military leader, is born (d. 323 BC).
1631 - The Sack of Baltimore takes place.
1887 - Tom Crean is born.
1960 - The Polaris missile is successfully launched from a submarine, the USS George Washington, for the first time.
1969 - Armstrong and Aldrin land on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Richard Nixon is President of the United States at the time of the landing.
21
1796 - Death of Robert (Rabbie) Burns, National Poet of Scotland, at the age of just 37.
1825 - Construction of the Miami Canal in Ohio begins.
1861 - The Battle of Bull Run - at Manassas Junction, Virginia - begins, marking the first major battle of the American Civil War. The Confederacy wins.
1921 - Groucho Marx marries Ruth Johnson.
1945 - Groucho Marx marries Kay Gorcey. Sources believe he just likes wedding cake.
1951 - Gus Grissom becomes the second Amercian in space, during the early Apollo missions.
1966 - Gemini X, one of the Apollo Pathfinders, re-enters the Earth's atmosphere.
1967 - Actor Basil Rathbone dies.
1969 - Neil Armstrong and Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin become the first men to walk on the Moon, during the Apollo 11 mission mission.
1976 - The fateful US Bicentennial Convention of the American Legion after which Legionnaires' Disease is named.
1981 - Martina Navratilova becomes an American citizen.
2000 - The band Oasis give a live performance at Wembley Stadium, which later (mostly) spawned a live album.
22
1469 - Warwick and Clarence agree to return to England and depose Edward IV in favour of Henry VI, in the Second War of the Roses.
1793 - Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Pacific Ocean, becoming the first Euro-American to complete a transcontinental crossing of Canada.
1796 - Surveyor Moses Cleaveland meet the mouth of the Cuyahoga River at Lake Erie, decides that this area would be a perfect capital city of the Connecticut Western Reserve, and named the new town after himself.
1847 - WE Gladstone returns as a member of Parliament.
1963 - Sonny Liston meets Floyd Patterson in a rematch, as mentioned in the song, 'We Didn't Start the Fire'.
1969 - The death of the tallest ever giraffe is recorded in The Guinness Book of Records.
1973 - Daniel Jones, founding member of the band Savage Garden is born on this day.
1992 - Wayne McLaren, who portrayed the Marlboro Man in ads for the cigarette brand, dies (b. 1940).
23
Every year - The last day of the Cancer horoscope.
1415 - 200 ships set sail from Tagus, destination unknown, less than a week after the death of Philippa of Lancaster.
1903 - The Ford Motor Company sells its first car.
1909 - The Derfflinger runs into the shingle bank off the Needles, near the Isle of Wight.
1914 - Austria-Hungary issues an ultimatum to Serbia demanding it allow the Austrians to determine who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Serbia rejects this demand, so Austria declares war on July 28.
1945 - Marilyn Monroe signs a contract with 20th Century Fox Studios.
1956 - Floyd Wilson makes the 11th escape attempt from Alcatraz.
1989 - Actor Daniel Radcliffe is born. He later beats hundreds of other young boys to become the screen version of Harry Potter.
24
Every year - The first day of the Leo horoscope.
1487 - Citizens of Leeuwarden, Netherlands, strike against a ban on foreign beer.
1588 - The Spanish force appear off the coast of the Isle of Wight.
1689 - William, Duke of Gloucester and son of Queen Anne is born.
1908 - Italian pastry cook Dorando Pietri almost wins the marathon race of the fourth Olympic Games of the modern era, held in London.
1936 - 'At the third stoke it will be one... thirty-two... and twenty seconds...' The Speaking Clock ticked into life.
1949 - Luckily nobody is killed and only a few people are injured in a London rail disaster when a train passed a red signal after leaving London Bridge station.
1962 - British Comedienne Cleo Rocos is born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
1983 - The pine tar incident occurs, one of the Great Moments in Baseball.
1999 - The world population is estimated to have reached 6 billion people.
2005 - Lance Armstrong wins his seventh consecutive Tour de France title.
25
1645 - Scarborough Castle surrenders.
1755 - British governor Charles Lawrence and the Nova Scotia Council order the deportation of the Acadians. Thousands are sent to the USA, France and England.
1814 - Heavy casualties are inflicted on both sides at Lundy's Lane during The War of 1812.
1839 - WE Gladstone marries Catherine Glynne.
1907 - Sir Robert Baden-Powell takes 22 young boys to a camping trip - this is regarded as the beginning of the scouting movement.
1915 - In an incident of early air-to-air combat, Major Lanoe G Hawker attacks three enemy scouts and is later awarded the Victoria Cross.
1959 - The SR.N1 hovercraft crosses the channel between Calais and Dover in two hours and three minutes.
1961 - John F Kennedy re-emphasises in a speech that any attack on Berlin is an attack on NATO.
2000 - Air France Concorde F-BTSC crashes upon take off.
26
1845 - Captain Dannert sees the two ships of the Franklin Expedition for the last time.
1936 - The Axis Powers - including Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan - decide to intervene in the Spanish Civil War.
1945 - Dame Helen Mirren is born in Chiswick, London, as Ilyena Lydia Mironoff.
1949 - Roger Taylor of Queen is born.
1953 - Castro leads an attack on the Moncada Barracks.
1971 - Apollo 15 is launched.
1977 - The National Assembly of Quebec imposes French as the official language of the provincial government.
2001 - The Brass Eye Paedophile Special is broadcast today. Hundreds of complaints miss the point of the programme entirely, but Channel 4 still feels compelled to apologise.
27
1648 - Scarborough Castle is used as a tactical player in the English Civil War.
1921 - Insulin was isolated by Sir Frederick Banting and Charles Best in their laboratory at the University of Toronto. This became the treatment for diabetes.
1938 - Antarctic hero Tom Crean dies.
1944 - The HMS Prince Leopold is torpedoed, in another Isle of Wight shipwreck.
1953 - The Korean War ends. The film MASH, set during the war, inspires a show that lasts longer than the war itself.
1976 - The first death due to Legionnaires' Disease is recorded.
1981 - The marriage of Ken Barlow and Deirdre Langton in UK soap opera Coronation Street proves to be a national event.
1994 - South African photojournalist Kevin Carter commits suicide.
1996 - In Atlanta, Georgia, USA, a pipe bomb explodes at the Centennial Olympic Park during the Olympic Games.
1997 - The TV show Stargate SG-1 first airs.
2001 - The Brass Eye Paedophile Special is repeated the day after its first airing, despite hundreds of complaints.
28
1545 - The French fleet withdraws, soon after the sinking of the Mary Rose.
1586 - The first potato arrives in Britain.
1683 - Queen Anne marries Prince George of Denmark.
1866 - Children's author Beatrix Potter is born.
1935 - The Boeing Model 299, which would become known as the B-17, makes its maiden flight.
1958 - A fire starts in a London Underground train between Shepherd's Bush and Holland Park, with most of the passengers suffering from smoke inhalation and one person later dying.
1986 - The last time Suzy Lamplugh is seen.
2004 - Francis Crick, the English molecular biologist and co-discoverer of the DNA molecule, dies (b. 1916).
29
1646 - Milton's child Anne is born.
1833 - William Wilberforce, a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade, dies (b. 1759).
1890 - Vincent van Gogh dies after shooting himself in the chest.
1965 - The second Beatles film Help! premieres at the London Pavilion in Piccadilly Circus.
1981 - HRH Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Frances Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral, London.
1987 - The UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher and French president François Mitterrand sign an agreement to build the Channel Tunnel.
30
1390 - Dom Afonso, the second child of Philipa of Lancaster is born.
1700 - William, Duke of Gloucester and son of Queen Anne, dies.
1700 - Queen Anne has a stroke.
1792 - The Marseilles militia march into Paris to a rousing rendition of 'La Marseillaise'.
1946 - A London Underground train crashes into the terminus at Edgware staion of the Northern line due to the driver suffering from a coronary thrombosis.
1954 - Elvis Presley makes his first public performance.
1958 - British Singer/Songwriter Kate Bush is born as Catherine Bush in Bexleyheath, Kent.
1968 - Sean Moore, drummer with the band the Manic Street Preachers, is born.
1968 - Ron Hansen accomplishes the first Triple Play in 40 years.
1971 - Apollo 15 splashes down.
1976 - Madagascar's Prime Minister Joël Rakotomalala dies in an air crash at Ankazomiriotra (which is in central Madagascar, btw).
2002 - A report is released asserting that the US Government is violating human rights of the Western Shoshone Indians.
2003 - UK motorcyclist Steve Hislop dies in an air crash on remote moorland near Teviothead.
2005 - Sudans's former rebel leader Dr John Garang dies in an air crash just three weeks after he is sworn in as Vice President and President of the South Sudanese Government.
31
1800 - Friedrich Wohler, the German chemist and first person to synthesise an organic compound (urea) from an inorganic source, is born.
1945 - John Giles makes the ninth escape attempt from Alcatraz.
1962 - Wesley Snipes, star of the film Blade, among others, is born.
1964 - Ranger 7, one of the Apollo Pathfinders, returns to Earth with close-up photos of the lunar surface.
1964 - Soft-voiced Country and Western singer Jim Reeves dies in an air crash ten miles south of Nashville, Tennessee.
1965 - Chichester Psalms is performed with an all-male choir for the first time.
1965 - Author JK Rowling is born.
1968 - Elvis Presley plays his first live gig in eight years, in Las Vegas. It's the first event of a four-week residency at the International Hotel in Las Vegas.
1970 - Black Tot Day: the last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the British Royal Navy.
