1737 - First public admittance to the Salon de Paris art exhibition at the Louvre in Paris
1838 - United States Exploring Expedition headed by Charles Wilkes departs for the Pacific Ocean and Antarctica
1914 - US President Woodrow Wilson issues “Proclamation of Neutrality”
1919 - Anti-Cigarette League of America forms in Chicago, Illinois
1920 - 22 year old representative Harry T. Burn is deciding vote in Tennessee’s and thus America’s ratification of the 19th Amendment to the constitution allowing women’s suffrage after letter from his mother 1920 – The 19th Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote, is ratified by Tennessee, giving it the two-thirds majority of state ratification necessary to make it the law of the land.
1940 - Battle of Britain: The air battle known as “The Hardest Day” occurs; Luftwaffe lose approximately 69 aircraft and the RAF lose 68 in one of the largest ever air battles
1969 – The Woodstock Music and Art Fair—a legendary rock festival near Bethel, New York, that attracted some 400,000 fans—ended.
1991 – Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is placed under house arrest during a coup by high-ranking members of his own government, military and police forces
Births & Deaths: 1227 – Genghis Khan—a warrior and ruler of genius who, starting from obscure and insignificant beginnings, brought all the nomadic tribes of Mongolia into a rigidly disciplined military state—died this day in 1227.
1934 – Roberto Clemente, one of the first Latin American baseball stars in the United States, was born in Puerto Rico.
1936 – American actor and director Robert Redford, who was known for the diversity of his screen characterizations as well as his commitment to environmental and political causes, was born.
Film & TV:
1926 - Weather map televised for 1st time
Sport: 1992 – American basketball player Larry Bird—who led the Boston Celtics to three NBA championships (1981, 1984, and 1986) and is considered one of the greatest pure shooters of all time—announced his retirement.
2008 - Belarus weightlifter Andrei Aramnau breaks 3 world records, for the snatch, clean & jerk, and total, on the way to winning the men’s 105kg gold medal at the Beijing Olympics
