Events

• 1099 – Some 15,000 starving Christian soldiers begin the siege of Jerusalem by marching in a religious procession around the city as its Muslim defenders watch.
• 1283 – Roger of Lauria, commanding the Aragonese fleet, defeats an Angevin fleet sent to put down a rebellion on Malta.
• 1497 – Vasco da Gama sets sail on the first direct European voyage to India.
• 1663 – Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal charter to Rhode Island.
• 1709 – Peter I of Russia defeats Charles XII of Sweden at the Battle of Poltava, thus effectively ending Sweden’s status as a major power in Europe.
• 1716 – The Battle of Dynekilen forces Sweden to abandon its invasion of Norway.
• 1758 – French forces hold Fort Carillon against the British at Ticonderoga, New York.
• 1760 – British forces defeat French forces in the last naval battle in New France.
• 1775 – The Olive Branch Petition is signed by the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies of North America (refer to American War of Independence).
• 1776 – Church bells (possibly including the Liberty Bell) are rung after John Nixon delivers the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence of the United States (refer to American War of Independence).
• 1808 – Promulgation of the Bayonne Statute, a royal charter Joseph Bonaparte intended as the basis for his rule as king of Spain (refer to Napoleonic Wars).
• 1822 – Chippewas turn over a huge tract of land in Ontario to the United Kingdom.
• 1853 – The Perry Expedition arrives in Edo Bay with a treaty requesting trade.
• 1864 – Ikedaya Incident: The Choshu Han shishi’s planned Shinsengumi sabotage on Kyoto, Japan at Ikedaya.
• 1879 – Sailing ship USS Jeannette departs San Francisco carrying an ill-fated expedition to the North Pole.
• 1912 – Henrique Mitchell de Paiva Couceiro leads an unsuccessful royalist attack against the First Portuguese Republic in Chaves.
• 1937 – Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan sign the Treaty of Saadabad.
• 1947 – Reports are broadcast that a UFO crash-landed in Roswell, New Mexico in what became known as the Roswell UFO incident.
• 1948 – The United States Air Force accepts its first female recruits into a programme called Women in the Air Force (WAF).
• 1960 – Francis Gary Powers is charged with espionage resulting from his flight over the Soviet Union.
• 1982 – A failed assassination attempt against Iraqi president Saddam Hussein results in the Dujail Massacre over the next several months.
• 1994 – Kim Jong-il begins to assume supreme leadership of North Korea upon the death of his father, Kim Il-sung.
• 2014 – Israel launches an offensive on Gaza amid rising tensions following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers.
• 2021 – President Joe Biden announces that the official conclusion of the US involvement in the War in Afghanistan will be on 31 August 2021.
• Air Force and Air Defence Forces Day (Ukraine).

People (Births)

• 1819 – Francis Leopold McClintock, Irish admiral and explorer (d. 1907).
• 1838 – Ferdinand von Zeppelin, German general and businessman, founded the Zeppelin Airship Company (d. 1917).
• 1909 – Alan Brown, English soldier (d. 1971).
• 1910 – Carlos Betances Ramírez, Puerto Rican general (d. 2001).
• 1915 – Neil D. Van Sickle, US Air Force major general (d. 2019).
• 1915 – Lowell English, US Marine Corps general (d. 2005).
• 1918 – Paul B. Fay, American businessman, soldier, and diplomat, 12th United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 2009).
• 1918 – Oluf Reed-Olsen, Norwegian resistance member and pilot (d. 2002).
• 1918 – Edward B. Giller, American Major General (d. 2017).
• 1919 – Walter Scheel, German soldier and politician, 4th President of West Germany (d. 2016).
• 1923 – Harrison Dillard, American sprinter and hurdler (d. 2019).
• 1977 – Paolo Tiralongo, Italian cyclist.
• 1981 – Wolfram Müller, German runner.
• 1988 – Jesse Sergent, New Zealand cyclist.

People (Deaths)

• 810 – Pepin of Italy, son of Charlemagne (b. 773).
• 1538 – Diego de Almagro, Spanish general and explorer (b. 1475).
• 1942 – Louis Franchet d’Espèrey, Algerian-French general (b. 1856).
• 1943 – Jean Moulin, French soldier (b. 1899).
• 1968 – Désiré Mérchez, French swimmer and water polo player (b. 1882).
• 1981 – Joe McDonnell (hunger striker), Irish Republican Army member (b. 1951).
• 1986 – Hyman G. Rickover, American admiral, Father of the Nuclear Navy (b. 1900).
• 1988 – Ray Barbuti, American runner and football player (b. 1905).
• 1994 – Kim Il-sung, North Korean commander and politician, President of North Korea (b. 1912).
• 1999 – Pete Conrad, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1930).
• 2014 – John V. Evans, American soldier and politician, 27th Governor of Idaho (b. 1925).