1789: Bounty survivors reach land
English Captain
William Bligh and 18 others, cast adrift from the H.M.S. Bounty, reach Timor after traveling nearly 4,000 miles in a small, open boat. The Bounty was sailing from Tahiti when crew members mutinied. The unpopular captain and his supporters were set adrift, and only by remarkable seamanship did they survive a perilous seven-week journey. Meanwhile, the Bounty sailed back to Tahiti, and then on to unpopulated Pitcairn Island, where the mutineers and a group of Tahitians founded a colony. The colony suffered through a decade of turmoil, and most of the original men were killed. The Tahitian women had given birth to children, however, and Pitcairn's population soon reached a healthy level. Their descendants still live on the island today.
1997
Queen
Elizabeth II birthday honours include a George Medal for teacher Lisa Potts, survivor of a machete attack at her school; and a posthumous Queen's Gallantry medal for headmaster Philip Lawrence murdered outside his school in London.
1982
Falklands War: Surrender of Argentinian troops by General Menendez to the British Task Force in Port Stanley following the Argentine invasion of the British-owned Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.1976
Former British Prime Minister
Harold Wilson receives a knighthood.
1971
In America, the New York Times begins printing extracts from top secret
Pentagon papers covering the
Vietnam War.
1970
Manchester United footballer Bobby Charlton plays his 106th and last international match for England v West
Germany in the World Cup finals in Mexico.His first game had been in April 1958 against Scotland.
1968
British yachtsman Robin Knox-Johnson sets out to sail solo around the world.1964
In Pretoria,
South Africa, black leader Nelson Mandela is among eight activists to be sentenced to life imprisonment for acts of sabotage. Mandela is sent to the notorious Robben Island - 7 miles from Cape Town on the South African coast.
1962
The European Space Research Organisation is established in Paris – later becoming the
European Space Agency. 1919
Captain
John Alcock and his partner, Lt Arthur Whitten-Brown, fling a
Vickers Vimy, take off from Newfoundland,
Canada at the beginning of the first non-stop transatlantic flight to Galway in Ireland.
1908
Fourth German Navy Bill is passed authorising the financing the building of another four major warships.1907
Norway adopts female suffrage.1900
Hawaiian Islands become United States' territory.1839
The village of Henley, on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, stages its first Regatta.1800
Napoleon Bonaparte's French Army defeats the Austrians at the Battle of Marengo in Northern Italy and re-conquers
Italy. 1789
Whisky distilled from maize is first produced by American clergyman the Rev
Elijah Craig. Its named Bourbon because Rev Craig lived in Bourbon County, Kentucky.
1777
In America, Congress adopts the Stars and Stripes as its official flag.1645
English Civil War: Battle of Naseby, Northamptonshire. Parliamentary forces commanded by
Oliver Cromwell defeat the
Royalist troops of
Charles I despite being heavily outnumbered.
1969
German tennis champion Steffi Graf.1961
English singer Boy George - real name George O'Dowd.1938
Folk singer Julie Felix.1928
Cuban revolutionary Ernesto 'Che' Guevara born in
Argentina. 1919
American
actor Sam Wanamaker
1864
German psychiatrist and pathologist Alois Alzheimer - identified the wasting disease of the brain.1994
Composer Henry Mancini.1946
Scottish inventor John Logie Baird.1936
English writer Gilbert K.Chesterton.1927
English writer Jerome (K) Klapta Jerome aged 68.
