1389

Geoffrey Chaucer is named chief clerk by Richard II.

1679

Britain’s King Charles II ratifies Habeas Corpus Act allowing prisoners right to be imprisoned to be examined by a court.

1690

Battle of Boyne: in Ireland, Protestant King William III defeats English Catholic King James II

1804

Former United States Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton dies after being shot in a pistol duel the previous day by Vice President Aaron Burr.

1861

Confederacy signs treaties with Native Americans.

1861

Wild Bill Hickok’s first gunfight.

1862

The Medal of Honor, awarded for battlefield bravery, was created for the U.S. Army.

1904

Chilean poet, diplomat, and politician Pablo Neruda, perhaps the most important Latin American poet of the 20th century and the winner of the 1971 Nobel Prize for Literature, was born in Parral.

1913

150,000 Ulstermen gather and resolve to resist Irish Home Rule by force of arms; since the British Liberals have promised the Irish nationalists Home Rule, civil war appears imminent.

1920

The independent republic of Lithuania, having successfully expelled invading Soviet troops, signed a peace treaty with Russia.

1943

Russians halt German advance in a decisive battle at Kursk.

1957

US Surgeon General Leroy Burney connects smoking with lung cancer.

1962

Iconic British rock band the Rolling Stones performed their first show, billed as the Rollin’ Stones, at a club in London.

1965

First Marine to receive Medal of Honor for action in Vietnam is killed.

1975

The island nation of Sao Tome and Principe was granted independence from Portugal.

1976

The television game show Family Feud began airing on ABC, and it became hugely popular, in part because of the personal charm and witty banter of host Richard Dawson; the show continued—with different hosts, including Steve Harvey—into the 21st century.

1979

Between games of a baseball doubleheader involving the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers at Comiskey Park, disco records were blown up as part of a promotion dubbed Disco Demolition Night; fans subsequently rushed the field, and, as a result of the ensuing mayhem, the second game was forfeited to the Tigers.

1984

Democratic presidential candidate Walter F. Mondale put forward Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate on this day in 1984, making her the first woman ever nominated for vice president by a major U.S. political party.

1990

“Les Miserables,” opens at National Theatre, Washington, DC.

1992

Axl Rose arrested on riot charges in St Louis stemming from a concert on Jul 2.

2002

Hindi film “Devdas” premieres directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and starring Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit (Best Film Filmfare Awards).

2015

Prince Albert II, the only son of Prince Rainier III and Grace Kelly, formally assumed the throne of Monaco.