1302

In the Battle of the Golden Spurs, an untrained Flemish infantry militia defeated a professional force of French and patrician Flemish cavalry, thus halting the growth of French control over Belgium.

1405

Chinese fleet commander Zheng He sets sail on his first major expedition, to the Spice Islands, leading 208 vessels, including 62 treasure ships with 27,800 sailors.

1533

Pope Clement VII excommunicated England’s King Henry VIII.

1782

British Royal Governor Sir James Wright, along with several civil officials and military officers, flee the city of Savannah, Georgia, and head to Charleston, South Carolina. 

1798

The U.S. Marine Corps, originally established in 1775, was formally reestablished.

1804

Outraged over disparaging remarks that Alexander Hamilton had allegedly made at a dinner party, Aaron Burr challenged his longtime rival to a duel.

1818

English poet John Keats writes “In the Cottage Where Burns is Born”, “Lines Written in the Highlands”, and “Gadfly”.

1863

Angered by unfair practices in Civil War conscription, New York City workers rioted and attacked draft headquarters.

1905

Members of the Niagara Movement meet for the first time.

1914

George Herman (“Babe”) Ruth played in his first major league baseball game, for the Boston Red Sox.

1918

German command makes final plans for renewed offensive on the Western Front.

1936

The Triborough Bridge (later renamed the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge), designed by David Barnard Steinman, opened in New York City.

1944

Franklin Roosevelt announces that he will run for a fourth term as President of the United States.

1945

Soviets agree to hand over power in West Berlin.

1953

Leon Spinks, who, like his brother Michael, won a world boxing title—the first set of brothers to do so—was born in St. Louis, Missouri.

1955

The U.S. Air Force Academy officially opened at temporary quarters at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado.

1960

American author Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird was published and became a classic, noted for its sensitive treatment of a child’s awakening to racism and prejudice in the South.

1967

“The Newlywed Game” premieres in the US on ABC TV.

1969

David Bowie releases the single “Space Oddity” 9 days before Apollo 11 lands on the moon.

1979

Parts of Skylab, America’s first space station, come crashing down on Australia and into the Indian Ocean five years after the last manned Skylab mission ended. No one was injured.

1989

British actor Laurence Olivier, arguably the greatest English-speaking actor of the 20th century, died near London.

1995

More than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys are massacred by Bosnian Serbs after they overrun the UN ‘safe haven’ of Srebrenica on directive of Radovan Karadžić.

2013

“Orange Is the New Black” premieres on Netflix starring Taylor Schilling, first series to be nominated for comedy and drama Emmy awards.

2015

Mexican criminal Joaquín Guzmán, who was head of the Sinaloa drug cartel, escaped from prison, using a lengthy underground tunnel; a massive manhunt followed, and he was captured again some six months later.