1520 – Spanish conquistadors are expelled from Tenochtitlan following an Aztec revolt against their rule under Hernán Cortés during “La Noche Triste” (the Night of Sadness). Many soldiers drown in the escape, and Aztec emperor Montezuma II dies in the struggle
1860 – Famous debate on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution held at the Oxford University Museum and dominated by arguments between Thomas Henry Huxley and Bishop Samuel Wilberforce
1905 – In Russia, the “Potemkin” arrives at Odessa, where sailors take the bodies of dead crewman ashore; sailors join civilians in revolutionary actions of the ‘1905 Revolution’
1908 – A giant fireball, most likely caused by the air burst of a large meteoroid or comet flattens 80 million trees near the Stony Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate, Russia, in the largest impact event in recorded history
1934 – “Night of Long Knives” – Adolf Hitler stages a bloody purge of the Nazi party
1938 – Superman 1st appears in DC Comics’ Action Comics Series issue #1
1992 – South African ANC President Nelson Mandela meets with UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali at Dakar
1992 – Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher joins the House of Lords as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven
1997 – British lease on the New Territories in Hong Kong, established by the Second Convention of Peking, expires
2007 – A car crashes into Glasgow International Airport in Scotland, believed to be a terrorist attack
2012 – Mohamed Morsi is sworn in as President of Egypt
2014 – The corpses of the 3 Israeli teenagers kidnapped in the West Bank earlier in month are found
2016 – British political candidates announce their bids for leader of Conservative party, including Theresa May and Michael Gove, Boris Johnson rules himself out
2019 – President Donald Trump becomes first sitting US president to set foot in North Korea in the Korean Demilitarized Zone meeting Kim Jong Un
2020 – For the 1st time less than half the working age population is working in Brazil, with 7.8 million losing their job March – May, according to Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics
Film & TV:
1955 – “Johnny Carson Show” debuts on CBS-TV
Music:
1992 – “End of the Road” single released by Boyz II Men (Grammy Award Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Best R&B Song 1993, Billboard Song of the Year 1992)
Sport:
2002 – FIFA World Cup Final, International Stadium, Yokohama, Japan: Ronaldo scores twice as Brazil beats Germany, 2-0 to win record 5th title; first World Cup held in Asia
2020 – FC Barcelona’s Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi scores his 700th career goal – a cheeky Panenka penalty – in a 2-2 draw against Atlético Madrid
Via Britannica / On This Day
