1542-Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sets sail from the Mexican port of Navidad on the first European voyage to explore the west coast of North America for the Spanish Empire
1709-Great Northern War: Peter the Great of Russia defeats Charles XII of Sweden at the Battle of Poltava; Charles goes into exile in Bender, Ottoman Empire
1743-War of the Austrian Succession: King George II of Britain personally leads Allied troops to victory in the Battle of Dettingen in Bavaria. The last time a British monarch commanded troops in the field.
1923-Capt. Lowell H. Smith and Lt. John P. Richter perform the first ever aerial refueling in a DH-4B biplane
1950-North Korean troops reach Seoul, causing the U.N. to ask member states to aid South Korea. Harry Truman orders the U.S. Air Force and Navy into the Korean conflict.
1954-First nuclear power station opens, in Obninsk near Moscow, Russia