1997
Death of Gianni Versace, fashion designer
Italy
1995
First item sold on Amazon.com
United States
1959
Death of Ernest Bloch, Swiss-born American composer
Switzerland
1959
Death of Ernst Bloch
Germany
1958
1,700 US Marines landed in Beirut to provide military support to the pro- Western Lebanese government.
LE
1948
The British branch of Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in London .
Great Britain
1933
Death of Irving Babbitt, American literary critic .
Great Britain
1919
Birth of Dame Iris Murdoch, writer
Ireland
1918
World War I: the Second Battle of the Marne began .
1904
Death of Anton Chekhov, writer
Russian Federation
1903
United States
1883
Death of General Tom Thumb (Charles Stratton), American circus midget and showman.
United States
1866
Birth of Dame Marie Tempest, actress
Great Britain
1808
Birth of Henry Edward Cardinal Manning, English Roman Catholic Archbishop.
Great Britain
1808
Birth of Sir Henry Cole, British civil servant, who promoted and oversaw the preserving of the national archives, launching the Penny Post, and introducing the first commercial Christmas cards.
Great Britain
1799
Rosetta Stone discovered in Egypt, made possible the deciphering (in 1822) of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics
Egypt
1775
Birth of Sir Richard Westmacott, sculpture
Great Britain
1609
Death of Annibale Carracci, Italian Baroque artist
Italy
1099
Jerusalem falls to the Crusaders
Great Britain
0971
St Swithun's body was moved to an indoor shrine. Legend says this was accompanied by bad weather, hence if it rains on St Swithun's Day bad weather will continue for 40 days.
Great Britain