Today:
763 BC – The earliest recorded solar eclipse was observed by the Assyrians, an event that has helped historians accurately date ancient Near Eastern chronology.
1520 – The Spanish conquistadors were driven from Tenochtitlan during the event known as La Noche Triste (“The Night of Sorrows”).
1859 – Charles Blondin became the first person to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope.
1905 – Albert Einstein submitted his paper introducing the special theory of relativity for publication.
1908 – A massive explosion over Siberia, known as the Tunguska event, flattened more than 800 square miles of forest.
1934 – Adolf Hitler launched the Night of the Long Knives, a purge of political rivals within the Nazi Party.
1936 – Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell was published.
1971 – The crews of Soyuz 11 died during re-entry after the spacecraft depressurized, becoming the only humans to have died in space.
1997 – Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to the China, ending 156 years of British rule (the handover took effect at midnight leading into July 1 local time).
2019 – Donald Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to set foot in North Korea, briefly crossing the Korean Demilitarized Zone to meet Kim Jong Un.