1944 – On D-Day, 160,000 Allied soldiers land in Normandy, France – The World War II invasion of Normandy established a new major front against the Germans in the west and helped Soviet forces facing the bulk of German troops in the east. Germany capitulated on May 7, 1945.
640 – Arab Muslim army sent by Caliph Omar begins siege of Heliopolis, city succumbs mid to late July, paving way for Muslim conquest of Byzantine Egypt
1002 – German King Henry II the Saint crowned
1242 – 24 wagonloads of Talmudic books burned in Paris
1391 – Inhabitants of Seville, Spain, massacre 5,000 Jews
1536 – Mexico begins its inquisition
1716 – French transport the 1st African slaves to Louisiana
1809 – Sweden declares independence, constitutional monarchy established with a new constitution empowering Riksdag after 20 years of absolute monarchy
1813 – The U.S. invasion of Canada was halted at Stony Creek, Ontario.
1822 – Alexis St. Martin shot in the stomach and treated by physician William Beaumont on Mackinac Island. Leads Beaumont to conduct digestion experiments through hole in St. Martin’s stomach.
1833 – Andrew Jackson became the first U.S. president to ride in a train. It was a B&O passenger train.
1844 – The Young Men’s Christian Association was founded in London.
1900 – US Congress pass an act authorizing a civil code and government for the territory of Alaska after gold discoveries bring lawlessness and disorder to the area
1924 – The German Reichtag accepted the Dawes Plan. It was an American plan to help Germany pay off its war debts.
1930 – Frozen food is sold in retail stores for the first time
1932 – In the U.S., the first federal tax on gasoline went into effect. It was a penny per gallon.
1933 – The first drive-in movie theater opened in Camden, New Jersey.
1934 – U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Securities Exchange Act, which established the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
1939 – The ship MS St. Louis, carrying 907 Jewish refugees from Europe, begins sailing back to the continent after it was refused entry into America. Approximately a quarter of those on board would perish in the Holocaust.
1941 – The U.S. government authorized the seizure of foreign ships in U.S. ports.
1942 – Japanese forces retreated in the World War II Battle of Midway. The battle had begun on June 4.
1944 – On D-Day, 160,000 Allied soldiers land in Normandy, France – The World War II invasion of Normandy established a new major front against the Germans in the west and helped Soviet forces facing the bulk of German troops in the east. Germany capitulated on May 7, 1945.
1958 – French Prime Minister Charles de Gaulle says Algeria will always be French
1966 – Civil rights activist James Meredith wounded by white sniper in Mississippi
1967 – Israeli troops occupy Gaza during second day of the Six-Day War
1972 – US bombs Haiphong, North-Vietnam; 1000s killed
1978 – Proposition 13 cuts California property taxes 57%
1982 – Israel invaded southern Lebanon in an effort to drive PLO guerrillas out of Beirut.
1984 – The video game Tetris is published
1985 – The body of Nazi war criminal Dr. Josef Mengele was located and exhumed near Sao Paolo, Brazil. Mengele was known as the “Angel of Death.”
1988 – George H. W. Bush makes campaign promise to support reparations for WW II to Japanese-American internees (promise broken, May 1989)
1999 – Largest jailbreak in Brazilian history at the Putim maximum security prison in Brazil, 345 prisoners run from the main gate. In the ensuing manhunt, two fugitives are killed and five innocent bystanders are accidentally jailed.
2005 – The United States Supreme Court ruled that federal authorities could prosecute sick people who smoke marijuana on doctor’s orders. The ruling concluded that state medical marijuana laws did not protect uses from the federal ban on the drug.
2012 – The Solar Impulse completes the world’s first intercontinental flight powered by the sun
2017 – Syrian Democratic Forces backed by the US launch offensive to take Raqqa from Islamic State in Syria
2018 – Convicted drug trafficker, Alice Johnson, granted clemency by US President Donald Trump after Kim Kardashian highlights case
2018 – Special pedestrian lane introduced just for “phubbers” slow-walking smartphone users in Xi’an, China
2019 – German serial killer nurse Niels Hoegel jailed for a second life sentence for the murder of 85 more people (previously convicted for six). Germany’s worst post-war serial killer.
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
