On this date...
In 1585, A group of 108 English colonists, led by Sir Richard Grenville, reached Roanoke Island, North Carolina.
In 1776, in the aftermath of the British dash up the North River, Washington works to keep a bold naval maneuver from becoming a strategic disaster. In today’s orders, he rebukes the officers and soldiers who, at the alarm, leave their posts to stare from the riverbank. Washington calls their conduct “unsoldierly.”
In 1776, off Staten Island, Richard Lord Howe drafts a peace overture to “George Washington Esqr.”—a wording that treats Washington as a private gentleman, not as commander in chief of the Continental Army.
In 1787, the Northwest Territory (much of today’s Midwest) was created by US law.
In 1832, the source of the Mississippi River was discovered by American geographer Henry Schoolcraft.
In 1835, Swedish-American inventor John Ericsson filed for a patent for his screw propeller design.
In 1861, Union General George B. McClellan distinguished himself by routing Confederates under General Robert Garnett at Corrick’s Ford in western Virginia.
In 1863, the draft riots began in New York City in response to the Enrollment Act, which was enacted on March 3, 1863. Although avoiding military service became much more difficult, wealthier citizens could still pay a $300 commutation fee to remain at home. Irritation with the draft dovetailed with opposition to the Emancipation Proclamation of September 1862, which made abolition of slavery the central goal of the war for the Union.
In 1865, P. T. Barnum’s museum in New York burned down; giantess Anna Haining Swan just escaped.
In 1866, Great Eastern began a two-week voyage to complete a 12-year effort to lay a telegraph cable across the Atlantic between Britain and the United States.
In 1866, Colonel Henry Carrington began construction on Fort Phil Kearny, the most important army outpost guarding the Bozeman Trail.
In 1868, Oscar J. Dunn, a former slave, was installed as Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana.
In 1916, the first Aero Company of the New York National Guard was called to Federal service during the border crisis with Mexico on July 13, 1916. This was the first time a National Guard aviation unit was mobilized.
In 1916, Guardsmen of the 4th South Dakota Infantry prepare to leave for San Benito, Texas, to take up their station as part of the partial mobilization to protect the Mexican border against bandit raids led by Pancho Villa.
In 1923, the legendary Hollywood Sign was dedicated.
In 1923, American explorer Roy Chapman Andrews discovered the first recognized dinosaur eggs in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia.
In 1937, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts was founded.
In 1939, backed by trumpeter Harry James, American singer Frank Sinatra recorded his first single, From the Bottom of My Heart.
In 1960, in Los Angeles, California, Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts was nominated for the presidency by the Democratic Party Convention, defeating Senator Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas.
In 1969, Former Alabama Governor George Wallace criticized President Richard Nixon for his handling of the war. He says he favors an all-out military victory if the Paris talks fail to produce peace soon.
In 1973, former presidential aide Alexander P. Butterfield revealed to Senate Watergate Committee staff members the existence of President Richard Nixon’s secret White House taping system.
In 1977, Lightning strikes cause a power blackout in much of New York City, leading to a night of widespread looting, vandalism and arson—and nearly 4,000 arrests. It becomes known as “The Night of Terror.”
In 1978, Ford Motor Company chairman Henry Ford II fired Lee Iacocca as Ford’s president, ending years of tension between the two men.
In 1985, doctors at Bethesda Naval Hospital removed two small benign polyps from US President Ronald Reagan’s colon.
In 1987, a federal judge threw out Bette Midler’s $10 million suit against Ford Motor Co, which used a sound-alike voice for its TV commercials.
In 1994, Former NFL running back, broadcaster, and actor O.J. Simpson, who is charged with murder, gave hair samples for testing
In 1995, just six days after the space shuttle “Atlantis” returned, the shuttle “Discovery” blasted off on a nine-day mission.
In 1999, Angel Maturino Resendiz, suspected of being the “Railroad Killer,” surrendered in El Paso, Texas.
In 2007, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced plans to address colony collapse disorder, which had been first reported several months earlier. A disorder affecting honeybees represents a serious threat to American agriculture.
In 2013, the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter first appeared, sparking a nationwide movement.
In 2013, a jury in Florida cleared neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman of all charges in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager whose killing unleashed furious debate over racial profiling, self-defense, and equal justice.
In 2015, Texas State Trooper Brian Encinia pulled over a 28-year-old Black woman, Sandra Bland, for failing to signal a lane change. After a heated encounter, he arrests her and takes her to a nearby jail. Three days later, on the morning of July 13, she was found dead in her cell, apparently by suicide.
In 2018, a grand jury indictment, sought by special counsel Robert Mueller, alleged that the Russian government was behind a sweeping conspiracy to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
In 2020, Washington’s NFL franchise dropped the “Redskins” name and logo amid pressure from sponsors; the move followed decades of criticism that the name and logo were offensive to Native Americans.
In 2024, Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. One rally attendee was murdered by the sniper, who was himself killed at the scene.
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