1497 – Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci leaves for his first voyage to the New World (disputed)
1775 – Second Continental Congress convenes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and issues paper currency for 1st time
1801 – First Barbary War: The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declare war on the United States of America (1st US foreign war)
1857 – Indian mutiny against rule by the British East India Company begins with the revolt of the Sepoy soldiers in Meerut
1940 – Winston Churchill succeeds Neville Chamberlain as British Prime Minister
1960 – US atomic submarine USS Triton completes 1st submerged circumnavigation of the globe
1973 – Bruce Lee collapses in Golden Harvest studios in Hong Kong and is rushed to Hong Kong Baptist Hospital where doctors diagnose him with cerebral edema
1981 – Francois Mitterrand defeats Valery Giscard d’Estang for Presidency of France
1992 – Bible Lands Museum opens in Jerusalem Israel
1994 – Nelson Mandela sworn in as South Africa’s 1st black president
2000 – India’s population reaches 1 billion, baby girl Aastha born at Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital chosen as symbolic billionth
2017 – USGS releases a report saying that some glaciers in Montana have receded by 85% in the last 50 years
2018 -New record auction price for a Latin American artwork of $9.76 million for Diego Rivera’s “The Rivals”
2019 – YouTube dispute between beauty vloggers James Charles and Tati Westbrook viewed more than 40 million times
2020 – Global confirmed cases of COVID-19 rise above 4 million with death toll above 270,000, according to Johns Hopkins
Film & TV:
1956 – 9th Cannes Film Festival: “The Silent World” directed by Jacques Cousteau and Louis Malle wins the Palme d’Or
Music:
1963 – Decca signs Rolling Stones on advice of Beatle George Harrison
Sport:
1970 – Stanley Cup Final, Boston Garden, Boston, MA: Bobby Orr scores famous OT winner as Boston beats St. Louis Blues, 4-3 for 4-0 series sweep; Bruins its first title since 1941
