1889 – In Johnstown, PA, more than 2,200 people died after the South Fork Dam collapsed.
1279 BC – Ramesses II, also known as Ramesses the Great becomes Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt (19th Dynasty)
0070 – Rome captures 1st wall of the city of Jerusalem
1223 – Battle of the Kalka River: Mongol force led by Jebei and Subedei defeat a Russian alliance, after feigning their retreat, leading to the death of 20,000 Russians
1578 – Martin Frobisher sails from Harwich, England, to Frobisher Bay, Canada. Eventually mines fools gold, famously used to pave the streets of London.
1634 – The colony of Massachusetts Bay annexes Maine colony
1759 – The Province of Pennsylvania bans all theater productions
1854 – The Kansas-Nebraska Act passed by the U.S. Congress.
1859 – In London, Big Ben went into operation.
1870 – Congress passes 1st Enforcement Act (rights of blacks)
1870 – E.J. DeSemdt patented asphalt.
1879 – Werner von Siemens presents the world’s first electric locomotive – Von Siemens’ landmark invention was soon used in trams. 1881 saw the introduction of the world’s first electric tram in Berlin, Germany.
1884 – Dr. John Harvey Kellogg patented “flaked cereal.”
1889 – In Johnstown, PA, more than 2,200 people died after the South Fork Dam collapsed.
1890 – Ulm Minster, in Ulm, Germany, the tallest church in the world with a steeple 161.5m high, is finally completed (begun 1377)
1900 – U.S. troops arrived in Peking to help put down the Boxer Rebellion.
1902 – The Boer War ended between the Boers of South Africa and Great Britain with the Treaty of Vereeniging.
1906 – Assassination attempt on King Alfonso XIII & Victoria of Battenberg in Madrid during the procession after their marriage in Madrid by a Catalan anarchist kills 30
1910 – The Union of South Africa was founded.
1913 – The 17th Amendment went into effect. It provided for popular election of U.S. senators.
1916 – Battle of Jutland: Largest naval battle of World War I between the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet which killed 8,645 in an inconclusive battle but strategic British victory. German fleet never puts to sea again in WWI
1921 – A large-scale race riot breaks out in Tulsa, Oklahoma, later described as the worst incident of racial violence in American history; around 150-300 African Americans killed
1927 – Ford Motor Company produced the last “Tin Lizzie” in order to begin production of the Model A.
1955 – The U.S. Supreme Court ordered that all states must end racial segregation “with all deliberate speed.”
1961 – South Africa became an independent republic.
1974 – Israel and Syria signed an agreement on the Golan Heights.
1977 – The trans-Alaska oil pipeline was finished after 3 years of construction.
1985 – Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) became a Schedule I drug in the United States
1994 – The U.S. announced it was no longer aiming long-range nuclear missiles at targets in the former Soviet Union.
1995 – Bob Dole singled out Time Warner for “the marketing of evil” in movies and music. Dole later admitted that he had not seen or heard much of what he had been criticizing.
2003 – In North Carolina, Eric Robert Rudolph was captured. He had been on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list for five years for several bombings including the 1996 Olympic bombing.
2005 – Deep Throat reveals himself – Former FBI agent Mark Felt admitted that he was the most important informant in the 1970’s Watergate scandal which uncovered the dirty tricks of the Nixon administration, ultimately leading to Nixon’s resignation.
2010 – Gaza Flotilla raid: Israeli Shayetet 13 soldiers board ships trying to break blockade of Gaze, during violent confrontation aboard MV Mavi Marmara 9 activists killed and several activists and soldiers injured
2012 – Egypt formally ends its 31 year state of emergency
2017 – Comedienne Kathy Griffin fired from CNN after photo of her holding bloody head resembling Donald Trump by Tyler Shields posted
2018 – Uganda’s parliament imposes tax on social media to stop gossip
2019 – Disgruntled employee shoots and kills 12 people at a US municipal building in Virginia Beach, Virginia
2019 – US President Donald Trump threatens to impose extra 5% tax on Mexican goods if country does not increase its efforts to curb immigration
2021 – Tulsa, Oklahoma, marks 100 year anniversary of the massacre of hundreds of black residents by a white mob in the Greenwood neighborhood
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
