1690-Army of Protestant King William III of England defeats deposed Roman Catholic King James II in the Battle of the Boyne at Oldbridge, Ireland
1858-Joint reading of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace's papers on evolution to the Linnean Society renders audience awestruck and silent [1]
1863-Battle of Gettysburg begins in Pennsylvania, Union forces halt Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia
1867-The Dominion of Canada is formed, comprising the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec, with John A. Macdonald serving as the first Prime Minister
1916-First day of the Battle of the Somme in World War I: The British Army suffers its worst day, losing 19,240 men
1956-Elvis Presley, wearing a tuxedo, sings to a basset hound on The Steve Allen Show
1960-Fidel Castro nationalizes Esso, Shell & Texaco in Cuba
1997-United Kingdom returns Hong Kong and the New Territories to the People's Republic of China