1889 Writer Erle Stanley Gardner (he created Perry Mason) is born. He dies in 1970.
1899 Actor James Cagney (The Public Enemy, Angels With Dirty Faces, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Mister Roberts, Ragtime) is born. He dies in 1986.
1917, with their country at war with Germany, the British royal family changed their name from the Germanic Saxe-Coburg Gotha to Windsor.
1936, the Spanish Civil War began with an army revolt led by General Francisco Franco.
1941, Joe DiMaggio‘s 56-game hitting streak came to an end, as the New York Yankees outfielder failed to get a hit.
1945, President Harry Truman, Soviet Premier Josef Stalin, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill began meeting at Potsdam in the final Allied summit of World War II.
1955, Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California, a year to the day after construction began.
1968, the Beatles’ animated film Yellow Submarine premiered in London.
1984, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill giving states until October 1st, 1986, to raise the legal drinking age to 21, or face a five percent cut in federal highway funds.
1996, a TWA 747 jet bound for Paris exploded shortly after takeoff from New York City and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Long Island. All 230 people on board were killed.
1997, Woolworth Corporation announced it was closing its 400 remaining five-and-dime stores across the country, ending 117 years in business.