On This Day

1298 – King Edward I of England and his longbowmen defeated William Wallace and his Scottish schiltrons outside the town of Falkirk.

1456 – John Hunyadi, Regent of Kingdom of Hungary defeats Mehmet II of Ottoman Empire in Belgrade.

1894 – The first ever motorized racing event was held in France between the cities of Paris and Rouen. The race was won by Jules de Dion.

1916 – In San Francisco, California, a bomb exploded on Market Street during a Preparedness Day parade killing 10 and injuring 40. The true identity of the bomber (or bombers) remains unknown.

1933 – Wiley Post became the first person to fly solo around the world, traveling 15,596 miles in 7 days, 18 hours and 45 minutes.

1934 – "Public Enemy No. 1" John Dillinger was mortally wounded by FBI agents, outside Chicago's Biograph Theatre.

1942 – The systematic deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto began.

1944 – The Polish Committee of National Liberation published its manifesto, starting the period of Communist rule in Poland.

1946 – The National Military Organization in the Land of Israel bombed the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, headquarters of the British civil and military administration, killing 90 people.

1987 - Naji Salim al-Ali, a Palestinian cartoonist was shot in the face and critically wounded in London. He never regained consciousness. He had received over 100 death threats during his career, because he regularly lampooned Middle Eastern leaders and politicians, who are not well known for their sense of humour.

2003 - Uday and Qusay Hussein, the sons of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, were killed in a gun battle in northern Iraq.

2005 – Jean Charles de Menezes, a Brazilian electrician, was shot and killed by Scotland Yard police at Stockwell Tube station. They supposedly mistook him for a terrorist.

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