2021
Carl Nassib became the first openly-gay NFL player to play a regular-season game.
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2006
Two newly discovered moons orbiting Pluto were named Nix and Hydra.
Nix is named after the Greek goddess of darkness and night, who also happens to be the mother of Charon. Hydra, on the other hand, is named after a mythological multi-headed serpent that Hercules defeated. Nix and Hydra were only first spotted by the Hubble Space Telescope in June 2005, partially because their orbits are much further out than Pluto’s previously known moon, Charon.
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2003
J.K. Rowling published the 5th Harry Potter book “The Order of the Phoenix.”
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1989
Burning the US flag was deemed legal.
The US supreme court voted 5-4 in favor of making it legal to burn the flag as a means of political speech.
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1982
John Hinckley, who tried to kill President Reagan, was found not guilty on the grounds of insanity.
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1975
The most memorable concert of the decade occurred at Wembley Stadium.
On this day, Elton John and the Beach Boys performed at the sellout event so-called “MidSummer Music.”
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1957
Louis St. Laurent resigned as the prime minister of Canada.
His action came after he was losing power, and he knew he wouldn’t pass a confidence vote. His run became the longest continuous term as prime minister in Canadian history.
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1948
Manchester Mark I computer became the first stored computer to run a program at a lab at Manchester University, UK.
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1904
Construction on the world’s longest railway in Russia was completed.
Russia’s Trans-Siberian Railway connects Moscow with the far Eastern city of Vladivostok. The railway is 5,772 miles (9,289 km) long and crosses eight time zones.
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1898
The US Navy claimed the island of Guam, which was previously under Spanish control.
Because the island of Guam had no notice of the invasion, they had no choice but to surrender immediately and pass the island over to the US.
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1834
Cyrus McCormick patented the reaping machine.
The machine was powered by horses and was used to reap crops during harvesting.
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1798
The British Army defeated Irish rebels at the Battle of Vinegar Hill.
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1791
King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and their immediate family fled their home at the beginning of the French Revolution.
Their unsuccessful escape, known as the Flight to Varennes, ultimately led to their beheadings.
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1788
New Hampshire became the 9th state to join the United States of America.
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1672
A Dutch pensions advisor, Johan de Witt, was severely wounded in a knife attack.
De Witt was not popular with “Orangists,” which was the first of many attacks. Eventually, in August 1672, he was shot dead in an organized attack by The Hague’s civic militia.
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