930– World’s oldest parliament, the Icelandic Parliament, the Alþingi (anglicised as Althing or Althingi), established
1868– Christopher Latham Sholes patents the Sholes and Glidden typewriter, the first commercially successful of its kind
1565 – Fort St. Elmo falls to the Turks.
1960– 1st contraceptive pill is made available for purchase in the U.S.
1961 – The Antarctic Treaty was enacted, reserving the entire continent for free and nonpolitical scientific investigation.
1972– Hurricane Agnes becomes America’s costliest natural disaster, effecting 15 states, with 119 deaths and $3 billion in damage
1974– 1st extraterrestrial message sent from Earth into space
1979– Supertramp’s “Breakfast in America” becomes No. 1 album in the US featuring “Take the Long Way Home”
2018 – The United Kingdom voted in a referendum to withdraw from the European Union, with 51.9 percent supporting Britain’s exit (“Brexit”) and 48.1 percent opposing the move; it marked the first time a country had decided to leave the organization.
Births & Deaths:
1940 – Sprinter Wilma Rudolph, the first American woman to win three track-and-field gold medals in a single Olympics, was born.
2006 – American television producer Aaron Spelling—whose credits included a number of hugely successful shows, including The Mod Squad, Family, Charlie’s Angels, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, and Beverly Hills 90210—died in Los Angeles.
Film & TV:
1989– Movie “Batman” premieres directed by Tim Burton, starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson
Sport:
1894– The International Olympic Committee is founded at the Sorbonne, Paris, at the initiative of Baron Pierre de Coubertin
2003– Barry Bonds steals second base against the LA Dodgers, becoming the first player in MLB history to have 500 career homers and 500 steals
