1678, Lady Godiva takes an infamous ride, naked on horseback, through Coventry, England.
1819, Poet Walt Whitman (Leaves Of Grass) is born. He dies in 1892.
1884, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg patents “flaked cereal.”
1889, Actress Madge Blake (Batman‘s Aunt Harriet) is born. She dies in 1969.
1889, over 2,200 people died when a dam break sent water rushing through the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
1908, Actor Don Ameche (Cocoon, Trading Places) is born. He dies in 1993.
1913, the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, providing for the popular election of U.S. senators, was declared in effect.
1948, Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham is born. He dies in 1980.
1989, House Speaker Jim Wright, dogged by ethics questions about his finances, announced he would resign.
1990, the TV sitcom Seinfeld, starring comedian Jerry Seinfeld, premiered as an NBC summer series after a pilot called The Seinfeld Chronicles had aired the previous year.
1994, the United States announced it was no longer aiming long-range nuclear missiles at targets in the former Soviet Union.
1997, pitcher Ila Borders became the first woman to play in a minor league baseball game. The St. Paul Saints reliever gave up three runs to Sioux Falls without recording an out in her debut game.