1804: Duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton
Outraged over disparaging remarks that Alexander Hamilton had allegedly made at a dinner party, Aaron Burr challenged his longtime rival to a duel, and on this day in 1804 he fatally shot Hamilton in Weehawken, New Jersey.
2007
American first lady (1963–69) and environmentalist Lady Bird Johnson—the wife of Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th president of the United States—died in Texas.
1989
British actor Laurence Olivier, arguably the greatest English-speaking actor of the 20th century, died near London.
1960
American author Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird was published and became a classic, noted for its sensitive treatment of a child’s awakening to racism and prejudice in the South.
1955
The U.S. Air Force Academy officially opened at temporary quarters at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado.
1953
Leon Spinks, who, like his brother Michael, won a world boxing title—the first set of brothers to do so—was born in St. Louis, Missouri.
1936
The Triborough Bridge (later renamed the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge), designed by David Barnard Steinman, opened in New York City.
1916
Australian politician Gough Whitlam—who served as his country’s prime minister from 1972 until 1975, when he was dismissed by the governor-general—was born in Kew, Victoria.
1914
George Herman (“Babe”) Ruth played in his first major league baseball game, for the Boston Red Sox.
1863
Angered by unfair practices in Civil War conscription, New York City workers rioted and attacked draft headquarters.
1798
The U.S. Marine Corps, originally established in 1775, was formally reestablished.
1302
In the Battle of the Golden Spurs, an untrained Flemish infantry militia defeated a professional force of French and patrician Flemish cavalry, thus halting the growth of French control over Belgium.