Events

• 636 – Arab–Byzantine wars: The Battle of Yarmouk between Byzantine Empire and Rashidun Caliphate begins.
• 717 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik begins the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, which will last for nearly a year.
• 718 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Raising of the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople.
• 747 – Carloman, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, renounces his position as majordomo and retires to a monastery near Rome. His brother Pepin the Short becomes the sole ruler (de facto) of the Frankish Kingdom.
• 778 – The Battle of Roncevaux Pass takes place between the army of Charlemagne and a Basque army.
• 927 – The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto.
• 982 – Holy Roman Emperor Otto II is defeated by the Saracens in the Battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria.
• 1018 – Byzantine general Eustathios Daphnomeles blinds and captures Ibatzes of Bulgaria by a ruse, thereby ending Bulgarian resistance against Emperor Basil II’s conquest of Bulgaria.
• 1038 – King Stephen I, the first king of Hungary, dies; his nephew, Peter Orseolo, succeeds him.
• 1057 – King Macbeth is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada.
• 1237 – The Battle of the Puig takes place in the context of the Spanish Reconquista pitting the forces of the Taifa of Valencia against the Kingdom of Aragon. The battle resulted in an Aragonese victory.
• 1261 – Michael VIII Palaiologos is crowned as the first Byzantine emperor in fifty-seven years.
• 1281 – Mongol invasion of Japan: The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan is destroyed by a “divine wind” for the second time in the Battle of Kōan.
• 1310 – The city of Rhodes surrenders to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights establish their headquarters on the island and rename themselves the Knights of Rhodes.
• 1430 – Francesco Sforza, lord of Milan, conquers Lucca.
• 1461 – The Empire of Trebizond surrenders to the forces of Sultan Mehmed II. This is regarded by some historians as the real end of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor David is exiled and later murdered.
• 1511 – Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Malacca Sultanate.
• 1517 – Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary.
• 1519 – Panama City, Panama is founded.
• 1537 – Asunción, Paraguay is founded.
• 1540 – Arequipa, Peru is founded.
• 1549 – Jesuit priest Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: 22 July 1549).
• 1592 – Imjin War: At the Battle of Hansan Island, the Korean Navy, led by Yi Sun-sin, Yi Eok-gi, and Won Gyun, decisively defeats the Japanese Navy, led by Wakisaka Yasuharu.
• 1599 – Nine Years’ War: Battle of Curlew Pass: Irish forces led by Hugh Roe O’Donnell successfully ambush English forces, led by Sir Conyers Clifford, sent to relieve Collooney Castle.
• 1695 – French forces end the bombardment of Brussels.
• 1760 – Seven Years’ War: Battle of Liegnitz: Frederick the Great’s victory over the Austrians under Ernst Gideon von Laudon.
• 1824 – The Marquis de Lafayette, the last surviving French general of the American Revolutionary War, arrives in New York and begins a tour of 24 states.
• 1863 – The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: 02 July 1863).
• 1893 – Ibadan area becomes a British Protectorate after a treaty signed by Fijabi, the Baale of Ibadan with the British acting Governor of Lagos, George C. Denton.
• 1914 – The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship SS Ancon.
• 1914 – World War I: The First Russian Army, led by Paul von Rennenkampf, enters East Prussia.
• 1914 – World War I: Beginning of the Battle of Cer, the first Allied victory of World War I.
• 1915 – A story in New York World newspaper reveals that the Imperial German government had purchased excess phenol from Thomas Edison that could be used to make explosives for the war effort and diverted it to Bayer for aspirin production.
• 1920 – Polish–Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw, so-called Miracle at the Vistula.
• 1939 – Twenty-six Junkers Ju 87 bombers commanded by Walter Sigel meet unexpected ground fog during a dive-bombing demonstration for Luftwaffe generals at Neuhammer. Thirteen of them crash and burn.
• 1940 – An Italian submarine torpedoes and sinks the Greek cruiser Elli at Tinos harbor during peacetime, marking the most serious Italian provocation prior to the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in October.
• 1941 – Corporal Josef Jakobs is executed by firing squad at the Tower of London at 07:12, making him the last person to be executed at the Tower for espionage.
• 1942 – World War II: Operation Pedestal: The oil tanker SS Ohio reaches the island of Malta barely afloat carrying vital fuel supplies for the island’s defenses.
• 1943 – World War II: Battle of Trahili: Superior German forces surround Cretan partisans, who manage to escape against all odds.
• 1944 – World War II: Operation Dragoon: Allied forces land in southern France.
• 1945 – Jewel Voice Broadcast by the Emperor Showa following effective surrender of Japan in the World War II, Korea gains Independence from the Empire of Japan.
  • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Korea from Japan in 1945.
  • Gwangbokjeol, “Independence Day” (South Korea).
  • Jogukhaebangui nal, “Fatherland Liberation Day” (North Korea).
  • Victory over Japan Day (United Kingdom), and its related observances.
  • End-of-war Memorial Day, when the National Memorial Service for War Dead is held (Japan).
• 1947 – India gains Independence from British rule after near 190 years of British company and crown rule, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.
  • Independence Day.
• 1947 – Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is sworn in as first Governor-General of Pakistan in Karachi.
• 1948 – The Republic of Korea (South Korea) is established south of the 38th parallel north.
• 1954 – Alfredo Stroessner begins his dictatorship in Paraguay.
• 1960 – Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) becomes independent from France.
  • Independence Day.
• 1961 – Border guard Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall.
• 1962 – James Joseph Dresnok defects to North Korea after running across the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Dresnok died in 2016.
• 1963 – Execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland.
• 1963 – President Fulbert Youlou is overthrown in the Republic of the Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital.
• 1971 – Bahrain gains independence from the United Kingdom.
• 1973 – Vietnam War: The USAF bombing of Cambodia ends.
• 1974 – Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President Park Chung-hee.
• 1975 – Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is killed along with most members of his family during a military coup.
• 1975 – Takeo Miki makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II.
• 1984 – The Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish military with an attack on police and gendarmerie bases in Şemdinli and Eruh
• 1995 – In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel (she drops out less than a week later).
• 2005 – The Helsinki Agreement between the Free Aceh Movement and the Government of Indonesia was signed, ending almost three decades of fighting.
• 2013 – At least 27 people are killed and 226 injured in an explosion in southern Beirut near a complex used by Lebanon’s militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. A previously unknown Syrian Sunni group claims responsibility in an online video.
• Armed Forces Day (Poland).

People (Births)

• 1385 – Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford, English commander (d. 1417).
• 1769 – Napoleon, French general and emperor (d. 1821).
• 1798 – Sangolli Rayanna, Indian warrior (d. 1831).
• 1876 – Stylianos Gonatas, Greek colonel and politician, 111th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1966).
• 1931 – Ernest C. Brace, American captain and pilot (d. 2014).
• 1940 – Gudrun Ensslin, German militant leader, founded Red Army Faction (d. 1977).
• 1959 – Scott Altman, American captain, pilot, and astronaut.
• 1963 – Simon Hart, Welsh soldier and politician.

People (Deaths)

• 778 – Roland, Frankish military leader.
• 1528 – Odet of Foix, Viscount of Lautrec, French general (b. 1485).
• 1844 – José María Coppinger, governor of Spanish East Florida (b. 1733).
• 1917 – Thomas J. Higgins, American sergeant, Medal of Honour recipient (b. 1831).
• 1935 – Wiley Post, American pilot (b. 1898).
• 1945 – Korechika Anami, Japanese general and politician, 54th Japanese Minister of the Army (b. 1887).
• 1945 – Fred Hockley, English lieutenant and pilot (b. 1923).
• 1962 – Lei Feng, Chinese soldier (b. 1940).
• 1989 – Minoru Genda, Japanese general, pilot, and politician (b. 1904).
• 1989 – Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos, Greek general and diplomat (b. 1897).
• 2015 – Hamid Gul, Pakistani general (b. 1936).