Today:
1497 – Vasco da Gama departed Lisbon, Portugal, on the voyage that would become the first direct sea route from Europe to India.
1709 – Peter the Great defeated Charles XII of Sweden at the Battle of Poltava, a decisive victory in the Great Northern War.
1776 – United States Declaration of Independence was publicly read for the first time in Philadelphia, accompanied by the ringing of the Liberty Bell.
1889 – The Wall Street Journal published its first issue in New York City.
1947 – Reports of the Roswell incident dominated headlines after the U.S. Army initially announced it had recovered a “flying disc” near Roswell, New Mexico, before retracting the statement.
1950 – Douglas MacArthur was named commander of United Nations Command forces during the Korean War.
1994 – Kim Il Sung, the founder and first leader of North Korea, died after ruling the country for nearly five decades.
2011 – Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-135 launched from Kennedy Space Center, marking the final mission of NASA’s Space Shuttle program.
2014 – 2014 FIFA World Cup semifinal saw Germany national football team defeat Brazil national football team 7–1 in one of the most shocking matches in World Cup history.
2022 – Assassination of Shinzo Abe occurred when former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was fatally shot while giving a campaign speech in Nara, Japan.