Today:
1608: Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec City, the first permanent European settlement in Canada.
1775: George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1863: The Battle of Gettysburg ended with a Union victory, a turning point in the American Civil War.
1890: Idaho was admitted as the 43rd U.S. state.
1938: The Mallard steam locomotive set a world speed record of 126 mph in Britain.
1952: The SS United States set sail on her maiden voyage, breaking the transatlantic speed record.
1969: Brian Jones, guitarist for The Rolling Stones, was found dead.
1971: Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors, died in Paris.
1988: The USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.
2013: Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first elected president, was removed in a military coup.