1497

Vasco da Gama sailed from Lisbon with a fleet of four vessels, and he ultimately opened a sea route from western Europe to Asia by way of the Cape of Good Hope, ushering in a new era in world history.

1672

William III is appointed stadholder by the States General in the Netherlands.

1776

Liberty Bell tolls to announce Declaration of Independence.

1776

Colonel John Nixon gives the 1st public reading of the Declaration of Independence to an assemblage of citizens in Philadelphia.

1815

Louis XVIII returned to Paris following the Hundred Days.

1833

The Treaty of Hünkâr İskelesi, a defensive alliance between the Ottoman Empire and Russia, was signed at the village of Hünkâr İskelesi, near Istanbul.

1836

Charles Darwin reaches Saint Helena in HMS Beagle and takes up lodgings near the tomb of Napoleon.

1889

Journalist Charles Henry Dow published the first issue of The Wall Street Journal.

1889

John L. Sullivan beat Jake Kilrain in 75 rounds to defend his title in the last heavyweight championship bout held under London Prize Ring rules.

1896

Orator William Jennings Bryan’s “cross of gold” speech at Democratic convention in Chicago.

1896

William Jennings Bryan delivered his “Cross of Gold” speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

1912

Giants Rube Marquard loses after winning 21 straight.

1913

Alfred Carlton Gilbert’s patent for the Erector Set is issued, it becomes one of the most popular toys of all time.

1918

Ernest Hemingway, an 18-year-old ambulance driver for the American Red Cross, is struck by a mortar shell while serving on the Italian front, along the Piave delta, in World War I.

1941

German general’s diary reveals Hitler’s plans for Russia.

1943

Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging (Dutch National Socialist Movement) leader Anton Mussert meets with Heinrich Himmler.

1947

A local newspaper erroneously reported that a “flying saucer” had been recovered near Roswell, New Mexico; although that claim was quickly refuted by authorities, the Roswell incident eventually became the center of a conspiracy theory involving UFOs and extraterrestrials.

1950

Douglas MacArthur was appointed commander of United Nations forces in the Korean War.

1951

Yankee Joe DiMaggio and manager Casey Stengel feud after Stengel pulls DiMaggio out of game.

1959

First Americans killed in South Vietnam.

1994

Kim Il-Sung, the communist dictator of North Korea since 1948, dies of a heart attack at the age of 82.

1996

The British pop band the Spice Girls released their debut single, Wannabe, which helped make them an international sensation.

2011

The orbiter Atlantis was launched on the last space shuttle mission.