1333

Scottish forces were defeated by the English under King Edward III in the Battle of Halidon Hill.

1545

During the Battle of the Solent, the Mary Rose, a warship that often served as the flagship of the English fleet, sank in a strait of the English Channel; the wreck was raised in 1982 and put on display in 2013.

1595

Astronomer Johannes Kepler has an epiphany and develops his theory of the geometrical basis of the universe while teaching in Graz.

1779

Massachusetts begins ill-fated Penobscot Expedition.

1799

During Napoleon Bonaparte’s Egyptian campaign, a French soldier discovers a black basalt slab inscribed with ancient writing near the town of Rosetta, about 35 miles east of Alexandria. The irregularly shaped stone contained fragments of passages written in three different scripts: Greek, Egyptian hieroglyphics and Egyptian demotic.

1843

The steamship SS Great Britain is launched, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, is the first ocean-going craft with an iron hull or screw propeller and the largest vessel afloat in the world.

1848

On this day in 1848, the women’s suffrage movement in the United States was launched with the opening of the Seneca Falls Convention, which sought to gain certain rights and privileges for women, notably the right to vote.

1860

Lizzie Borden—who was suspected of murdering her stepmother and father but was acquitted in a trial that became a national sensation in the United States—was born in Fall River, Massachusetts.

1870

The French emperor Napoleon III declared war on Prussia, beginning the Franco-German War.

1879

Doc Holliday kills for the first time.

1886

Hungarian piano virtuoso and composer Franz Liszt played the piano for the last time at a concert in Luxembourg.

1903

French bicyclist Maurice Garin won the first Tour de France, which covered 2,428 km (1,508 miles).

1913

Billboard publishes earliest known “Last Week’s 10 Best Sellers Among Popular Songs”; “Malinda’s Wedding Day” by singers Byron Harlan and Arthur Collins is #1 (recorded in Camden, New Jersey).

1922

American liberal Democratic politician George S. McGovern, who served as a U.S. senator (1962–80) and was an unsuccessful candidate for the presidency in 1972, was born in Avon, South Dakota.

1941

British PM Winston Churchill launches his “V for Victory” campaign.

1941

Tom and Jerry first appear under their own names in cartoon “The Midnight Snack” by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.

1947

Aung San, Burmese nationalist leader and prime minister, was assassinated in Rangoon (Yangon, Myanmar).

1965

American wild-animal tamer Clyde Beatty—who was known for his “fighting act,” which was designed to show his courage and mastery of the ferocious animals under his control—died at age 62.

1980

The Summer Olympics opened in Moscow, though some 60 countries refused to attend because of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1979; it was the largest boycott in the history of the Olympic movement.

2007

The first episode of Mad Men aired, and the series, which starred Jon Hamm, quickly became a critical and commercial hit, noted for its nuanced representation of social life in the 1960s and for its stylish visual flair.

2014

American actor James Garner, who was perhaps best known for his roles in the television series Maverick and The Rockford Files, died at age 86.