1689 – Matsuo Basho, zen poet, leaves for 150 days journey on Honshu, Japan
1858 – The joint reading of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace’s papers on evolution to the Linnean Society
1863 – Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; Lee’s northward advance halted
1867 – The Dominion of Canada is formed, comprising the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario & Quebec, with John A. Macdonald serving as the first Prime Minister
1916 – First day of the Battle of the Somme: the British Army suffers its worst day, losing 19,240 men (WWI)
1921 – The Communist Party of China is founded and Chen Duxiu elected its leader
1941 – Bulova Watch Co pays $9 for 1st ever network TV commercial
1997 – United Kingdom returns Hong Kong and the New Territories to the People’s Republic of China
2000 – Vermont’s civil unions law goes into effect.
2007 – Smoking is banned from English public places and all the UK after earlier bans in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
2012 – UEFA European Championship Final, Olympic Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine: Spain crush Italy, 4-0 to retain their title
2013 – 47 people are killed and 90 are wounded in two bomb blasts in Pakistan
2017 – Canada celebrates 150 years since its formation
2020 – Europe opens its borders to 15 safe countries after months of lockdown, excluding the US, Brazil and Russia
2020 – WHO says Middle East at “critical threshold” with COVID-19 cases over 1 million, 80% of deaths in Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia
2020 – Russian President Vladimir Putin wins national referendum allowing longer presidential terms of office
Music:
1967 – The Beatles’ album “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” goes #1 in the United States, where it would stay for 15 weeks
Sport:
1998 – NBA commences a player lockout after no agreement with players about salary issues – lasts 204 days with the season shortened by 50 games
Via Britannica / On This Day
