Today:
1304: King Edward I of England captured Stirling Castle in Scotland during the Scottish War of Independence.
1402: Timur, ruler of the Timurid Empire, defeated the forces of Ottoman Empire sultan Bayezid I at the Battle of Ankara.
1810: Citizens of Bogotá, New Granada (now Colombia), declared independence from Spain.
1881: Hunkpapa Teton Sioux leader Sitting Bull surrendered to the U.S. Army, which promised amnesty for him and his followers.
1903: The Ford Motor Company shipped its first automobile.
1944: Adolf Hitler survived an assassination attempt, known as the July Plot, led by German Army Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg.
1960: Sirimavo Bandaranaike was elected prime minister of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), becoming the world’s first female prime minister.
1969: Apollo 11’s lunar module, the Eagle, landed on the Moon, and Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on its surface.
1976: The Viking 1 lander successfully touched down on the surface of Mars, becoming the first American spacecraft to do so.
2012: A gunman opened fire in a movie theater during the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colorado, killing 12 people and injuring many others.