1185 - The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia.
1248 - The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, is laid. (Construction is eventually completed in 1880.)
1309 - The city of Rhodes surrenders to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights establish their headquarters on the island and rename themselves the Knights of Rhodes.
1517 - Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary.
1843 - The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, Hawaii is dedicated. Now the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, it is the oldest Roman Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States.
1843 - Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark.
1863 - The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863).
1869 - The Meiji government in Japan establishes six new ministries, including one for Shinto.
1891 - San Sebastian Church in Manila, the first all-steel church in Asia, is officially inaugurated and blessed.
1914 - A male servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright sets fire to the living quarters of the architect's Wisconsin home, Taliesin, murders seven people and burns the living quarters to the ground.
1914 - The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship Ancon.
1947 - India gains independence from the United Kingdom and becomes an independent nation within the Commonwealth , Jawaharlal Nehru addresses the nation with the Indian Declaration of Independence and takes office as the first Prime Minister of India.
1947 - Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is sworn in as first Governor General of Pakistan at Karachi.
1948 - The Republic of Korea is established south of the 38th parallel north.
1950 - Srikakulam district is formed in Andhra Pradesh, India.
1952 - Devon, United Kingdom A flashflood drenches the town of Lynmouth, killing 34 people.
1960 - Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) declares its independence from France.
1961 - Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall.
1961 - Keiyo Road is specified as the first driveway in Japan.
1962 - James Joseph Dresnok defects to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea after running across the Korean DMZ. Dresnok still resides in the capital, Pyongyang.
1965 - The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, in an event later seen as marking the birth of stadium rock.
1969 - The Woodstock Music and Art Festival opens.
1971 - President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors.
1973 - Vietnam War: The United States bombing of Cambodia ends.
1974 - Seoul Subway Line 1 is opened, connecting Seoul Station and Cheongnyangni Station.
1974 - Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President of South Korea, Park Chung-hee.
1974 - The Turkish invasion of Cyprus continues, and 37% of the island's area comes under Turkish control.
1975 - Military coup in Bangladesh. Sheikh Mujibur Rehman is killed along with all the memebrs of his family except Haseena Wajid.
1975 - Miki Takeo makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II.
1977 - The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by The Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the "Wow! signal" from the notation made by a volunteer on the project.
1984 - The PKK in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish military
1995 - In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel (she drops out less than a week later).
1998 - Omagh bomb in Northern Ireland, the worst terrorist incident of The Troubles
1999 - Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria; some 29 people are killed at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border, leading to temporary tensions with Morocco.
2007 - An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru killing 514 and injuring 1,090.
