Horoscope
If Today is Your Birthday
Business success is forthcoming if you apply yourself and grab opportunities when they arise. You are more enterprising than usual, and ready to take on new projects. Opportunities for travel are likely to present themselves. Adjustments in your love life are required in order to maximize your personal growth, and you are more willing than usual to make them. Avoid making decisions that are too driven by emotions rather than logic and instinct.

Quote of the Day
That which has always been accepted by everyone, everywhere, is almost certain to be false.
Paul Valery (1871 - 1945) 

Events
285 - Diocletian appoints Maximian as Caesar, co-ruler.
306 - Constantine I proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops.
864 - Edict of Pistres of Charles the Bald orders defensive measures against the Vikings.
1139 - Battle of Ourique: The independence of Portugal from the Kingdom of León and Castile declared after the battle against the Almoravids.
1261 - The city of Constantinople is recaptured by Nicaean forces under the command of Alexios Strategopoulos, thus re-establishing the Byzantine Empire.
1536 - Sebastián de Belalcázar on his search of El Dorado found the City of Santiago de Cali.
1538- The City of Guayaquil is founded by the Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Orellana and given the name Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de Santiago de Guayaquil.
1547 - Henry II (France) crowned.
1567 - Don Diego de Losada founds the city of Santiago de Leon de Caracas, modern-day Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela.
1593 - Henry IV of France publicly converts from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism.
1603 - James VI of Scotland is crowned first king of Great Britain.
1693 - Ignacio de Maya founds the Real Santiago de las Sabinas, actual Sabinas Hidalgo, Nuevo León, México.
1722 - Three Years War begins along Maine and Massachusetts border.
1755 - The decision to deport the Acadians takes place in Halifax. Thousands of Acadians are sent to the British Colonies in America, France and England. Some later moved to Louisiana, while others later resettled in New Brunswick.
1758 - Seven Years' War: The island battery at Fortress Louisbourg in Nova Scotia is silenced and all French warships are destroyed or taken.
1759 - French and Indian War: In Western New York, British forces capture Fort Niagara from French, who subsequently abandon Fort Rouillé.
1792 - The Brunswick Manifesto is issued to the population of Paris promising vengeance if the French Royal Family is harmed.
1795 - The first stone of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is laid.
1797 - Horatio Nelson loses more than 300 men and his right arm during the failed conquest attempt of Tenerife Island (Spain).
1799 - At Aboukir in Egypt, Napoleon I of France defeats 10,000 Ottomans under Mustafa Pasha.
1814 - War of 1812: Battle of Lundy's Lane - Reinforcements arrive near Niagara Falls for General Riall's British and Canadian forces and a bloody, all-night battle with Jacob Brown's Americans commences at 18.00; Americans retreat to Fort Erie.
1824 - Costa Rica annexes Guanacaste from Nicaragua.
1837 - The first commercial use of an electric telegraph was successfully demonstrated by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone on 25 July 1837 between Euston and Camden Town in London.
1853 - Joaquin Murietta, famous Californio bandit known as "Robin Hood of El Dorado", is killed.
1861 - American Civil War: The Crittenden-Johnson Resolution is passed by the U.S. Congress stating that the war is being fought to preserve the Union and not to end slavery.
1866 - The U.S. Congress passes legislation authorizing the rank of General of the Army (now called "5-star general"). Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant becomes the first to have this rank.
1868 - Wyoming becomes a United States territory.
1869 - The Japanese daimyo begin returning their land holdings to the emperor as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms. (Traditional Japanese Date: June 17, 1869).
1894 - The First Sino-Japanese War begins when the Japanese fire upon a Chinese warship.
1897 - Writer Jack London sails to join the Klondike Gold Rush where he will write his first successful stories.
1898 - The United States invasion of Puerto Rico begins with U.S. troops landing at harbor of Guánica, Puerto Rico [The land invasion, proper, began that day: Sea-based bombardment and shelling of the capital city of San Juan had been occurring since May of 1898].
1907 - Korea becomes a protectorate of Japan.
1908 - Ajinomoto is founded. Kikunae Ikeda of the Tokyo Imperial University discovers that a key ingredient in Konbu soup stock is monosodium glutamate (MSG), and patents a process for manufacturing it.
1909 - Louis Blériot makes the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air machine (Calais to Dover) in 37 minutes.
1917 - Sir Thomas Whyte introduces the first income tax in Canada as a "temporary" measure (lowest bracket is 4% and highest is 25%).
1920 - Telecommunications: First transatlantic two-way radio broadcast takes place.
1925 - Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS) is established.
1934 - Nazis assassinate Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss in a failed coup attempt.
1940 - General Guisan orders the Swiss Army to resist German invasion and make surrender illegal.
1943 - World War II: Benito Mussolini is forced out of office by his own Italian Grand Council and is replaced by Pietro Badoglio.
1944 - World War II: Operation Spring - One of the bloodiest days for Canadians during the war: 18,444 casualties, including 5,021 killed.
1946 - Operation Crossroads: An atomic bomb is detonated underwater in the lagoon of Bikini atoll.
1946 - At Club 500 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis stage their first show as a comedy team.
1952 - The U.S. non-incorporated colonial territory of Puerto Rico adopts a "constitution" of local-limited powers, approved by the United States Congress in contravention of then-current International Law.
1956 - 45 miles south of Nantucket Island, the Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria collides with the MS Stockholm in heavy fog and sinks the next day, killing 51.
1958 - The African Regroupment Party (PRA) holds its first congress in Cotonou.
1961 - John F. Kennedy speech emphasizes that any attack on Berlin is an attack on NATO.
1969 - Vietnam War: US President Richard Nixon declares the Nixon Doctrine, stating that the United States now expects its Asian allies to take care of their own military defense. This was the start of the "Vietnamization" of the war.
1973 - Soviet Mars 5 space probe launched.
1978 - The Cerro Maravilla Incident occurs.
1983 - Black July: 37 Tamil political prisoners at the Welikada high security prison in Colombo were massacred by the fellow Sinhalese prisoners.
1984 - Salyut 7 Cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya becomes the first woman to perform a space walk.
1993 - Israel launches a massive attack against Lebanon in what the Israelis call Operation Accountability, and the Lebanese call Seven-Day War.
1993 - The St James Church massacre occurs in Kenilworth, Cape Town, South Africa.
1994 - Israel and Jordan sign the Washington Declaration, which formally ends the state of war that has existed between the nations since 1948.
1995 - A gas bottle exploded in station Saint Michel of line B of the RER (Paris regional train network). Eight were killed and 80 wounded.
1997 - K.R. Narayanan is sworn-in as India's 10th president and the first Dalit— formerly called "untouchable"— to hold this office.
2000 - Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde supersonic passenger jet, F-BTSC, crashes just after takeoff from Paris killing all 109 aboard and 4 on the ground.
2007 - Pratibha Patil is sworn in as India's first woman president 

Births
1016 - Casimir I, Duke of Poland (d. c. 1058)
1109 - Afonso I of Portugal (d. 1185)
1336 - Albert, Count of Holland (d. 1404)
1404 - Philip I, Duke of Brabant (d. 1430)
1421 - Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland, English politician (d. 1461)
1562 - Kiyomasa Kato, Japanese warlord (d. 1611)
1653 - Agostino Steffani, Italian diplomat (d. 1728)
1658 - Archibald Campbell, 1st Duke of Argyll, Scottish privy councillor (d. 1703)
1750 - Henry Knox, American general (d. 1806)
1797 - Princess Augusta, Duchess of Cambridge (d. 1889)
1799 - David Douglas, Scottish botanist (d. 1834)
1839 - Francis Garnier, French explorer (d. 1873)
1844 - Thomas Eakins, American artist (d. 1916)
1848 - Arthur Balfour, 33rd Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1930)
1860 - Princess Louise Margaret, Duchess of Connaught (d. 1917)
1867 - Max Dauthendey, German writer (d. 1918)
1867 - Alexander Rummler, American painter (d. 1959)
1870 - Maxfield Parrish, American illustrator (d. 1966)
1882 - George S. Rentz, Navy Chaplain, Navy Cross (d. 1942)
1883 - Alfredo Casella, Italian composer (d. 1947)
1886 - Bror von Blixen-Finecke, Swedish big-game hunter (d. 1946)
1894 - Walter Brennan, American actor (d. 1974)
1894 - Gavrilo Princip, Serbian assassin (d. 1918)
1895 - Yvonne Printemps, French actress and singer (d. 1977)
1896 - Jack Perrin, American actor (d. 1967)
1901 - Lila Lee, American actress (d. 1973)
1902 - Eric Hoffer, American philosopher (d. 1983)
1905 - Elias Canetti, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1994)
1905 - Denys Watkins-Pitchford, writer and illustrator (d. 1990)
1907 - Johnny Hodges, American saxophonist (d. 1970)
1908 - Bill Bowes, English cricketer (d. 1987)
1908 - Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Indian musician (d. 2003)
1908 - Jack Gilford, American actor (d. 1990)
1914 - Woody Strode, American actor and decathlete (d. 1994)
1916 - Lucien Saulnier, Quebec politician (d. 1989)
1917 - Whipper Billy Watson, Canadian professional wrestler (d. 1990)
1918 - Jane Frank, American artist (d. 1986)
1920 - Jean Carmet, French actor (d. 1994)
1920 - Rosalind Franklin, English scientist (d. 1958)
1923 - Estelle Getty, American actress
1923 - Maria Gripe, Swedish writer (d. 2007)
1924 - Frank Church, American politician
1925 - Jerry Paris, American actor (d. 1986)
1926 - Whitey Lockman, American baseball player
1927 - Daniel Ceccaldi, French actor (d. 2003)
1927 - Sadiq Hussain Qureshi, Pakistani politician (d. 2000)
1928 - Keter Betts, American jazz bassist (d. 2005)
1928 - Mario Montenegro, Filipino actor (d. 1988)
1929 - Somnath Chatterjee, Indian communist leader
1929 - Eddie Mazur, Canadian hockey player (d. 1995)
1930 - Maureen Forrester, Canadian contralto
1930 - Alice Parizeau, Polish-born Quebec writer and essayist (d. 1990)
1930 - Annie Ross, British jazz singer
1934 - Don Ellis, American jazz trumpeter (d. 1978)
1934 - Claude Zidi, French film director and screenwriter
1935 - Barbara Harris, American actress
1935 - Larry Sherry, American baseball player (d. 2006)
1935 - Lars Werner, Swedish communist leader
1935 - Adnan Khashoggi, Saudi arms merchant
1936 - Gerry Ashmore, British racing driver
1936 - Glenn Murcutt, Australian architect
1937 - Colin Renfrew, English archeologist
1941 - Peter Suschitzky, Polish-British cinematographer
1941 - Emmett Till, American murder victim (d. 1955)
1942 - Bruce Woodley, Australian singer, guitarist and songwriter (The Seekers)
1943 - Jim McCarty, English musician
1946 - Rita Marley, Jamaican-Cuban singer
1946 - John Gibson, American media host
1951 - Verdine White, American bassist
1954 - Walter Payton, American football player (d. 1999)
1955 - Iman Abdulmajid, Somali model
1955 - Kike Elomaa, Finnish bodybuilder
1958 - Thurston Moore, American musician (Sonic Youth)
1959 - Anatoly Onoprienko, a Ukrainian serial Killer
1960 - Alain Robidoux, Canadian snooker player
1961 - Bobbie Eakes, American actress
1961 - Katherine Kelly Lang, American actress
1963 - Denis Coderre, French Canadian politician
1963 - Julian Hodgson, English chess player
1965 - Illeana Douglas, American actress
1966 - Maureen Herman, American bassist
1966 - Lynda Lemay, French Canadian singer
1966 - Christine C. Quinn, American politician
1967 - Matt LeBlanc, American actor
1967 - Wendy Raquel Robinson, American actress
1967 - Tommy Skjerven, Norwegian football referee
1969 - Jon Barry, American basketball player
1971 - Roger Creager, American country music singer-songwriter
1971 - Billy Wagner, American baseball player
1973 - Dani Filth, British singer (Cradle of Filth)
1973 - David Denman, American actor
1973 - Kevin Phillips, English footballer
1973 - Mur Lafferty, American podcaster and writer
1973 - Michael C. Williams, American actor
1974 - Kenzo Suzuki, Japanese professional wrestler
1974 - Jay R. Ferguson, American actor
1975 - Jean-Claude Darcheville, French footballer
1976 - Tera Patrick, American pornographic actress
1976 - Jovica Tasevski-Eternijan, Macedonian poet
1976 - Javier Vázquez, Puerto Rican baseball player
1977 - Kenny Thomas, American basketball player
1978 - Louise Brown, World's first test tube baby
1978 - Gerard Warren, American football player
1979 - Amy Adams, American singer
1979 - Allister Carter, English professional snooker player
1980 - Diam's, French female rapper
1980 - Shawn Riggans, American baseball player
1980 - Toni Vilander, Finnish racing driver
1981 - Conor Casey, American soccer player
1981 - Jani Rita, Finnish ice hockey player
1982 - Brad Renfro, American actor (d. 2008)
1984 - Loukas Mavrokefalidis, Greek basketball player
1985 - James Lafferty, American actor
1985 - Jasmine Lennard, English model
1985 - Nelson Angelo Piquet, Brazilian race car driver
1987 - Michael Welch, American actor
1988 - Heather Marks, Canadian model
1988 - Anthony Stokes, Irish footballer
1989 - Noel Callahan, Canadian actor 

Deaths
306 - Constantius Chlorus, Roman Emperor (b. 250)
1409 - King Martin I of Sicily
1492 - Pope Innocent VIII (b. 1432)
1616 - Andreas Libavius, German physician and chemist (b. 1550)
1643 - Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull, English statesman (b. 1584)
1676 - François Hédelin, abbé d'Aubignac, French writer (b. 1604)
1681 - Urian Oakes, English-born President of Harvard University (b. 1631)
1790 - Johann Bernhard Basedow, German education reformer (b. 1723)
1790 - William Livingston, Governor of New Jersey (b. 1723)
1791 - Isaac Low, American Continental Congressman (b. 1735)
1794 - André Chénier, French writer (b. 1762)
1826 - Kondraty Fyodorovich Ryleyev, Russian poet and revolutionary (b. 1795)
1834 - Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English poet (b. 1772)
1842 - Dominique Jean Larrey, French surgeon (b. 1766)
1843 - Charles Macintosh, Scottish chemist and inventor (b. 1766)
1853 - Joaquin Murieta, California outlaw
1861 - Jonas Furrer, Swiss Federal Councilor (b. 1805)
1887 - John Taylor, American religious leader (b. 1808)
1934 - François Coty, French perfume manufacturer (b. 1874)
1934 - Engelbert Dollfuss, Chancellor of Austria (assassinated) (b. 1892)
1934 - Nestor Makhno, Ukrainian anarchist (b. 1889)
1952 - Herbert Murrill, English composer (b. 1909)
1962 - Thibaudeau Rinfret, Canadian jurist and Chief Justice (b. 1879)
1963 - Ugo Cerletti, Italian neurologist (b. 1877)
1971 - Leroy Robertson, American composer (b. 1896)
1973 - Louis Stephen St. Laurent, 12th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1882)
1980 - Vladimir Vysotsky, Russian poet, singer, and actor (b. 1938)
1982 - Hal Foster, Canadian-American cartoonist (Prince Valiant) (b. 1892)
1984 - Bryan Hextall, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1913)
1984 - Big Mama Thornton, American singer (b. 1926)
1986 - Vincente Minnelli, American film director (b. 1903)
1988 - Judith Barsi, American actress (b. 1978)
1989 - Steve Rubell, American night club owner (b. 1943)
1992 - Alfred Drake, American actor and singer (b. 1914)
1995 - Charlie Rich, American rock/soul/country musician (b. 1932)
1996 - Howard Vernon, Swiss actor (b. 1914)
1997 - Ben Hogan, American golfer (b. 1912)
1998 - Tal Farlow, American jazz guitar virtuoso. (b. 1921)
2002 - Abdur Rahman Badawi, Egyptian existentialist philosopher (b. 1917)
2003 - Ludwig Bölkow, German aeronautical engineer (b. 1912)
2003 - Erik Brann, American bass player (b. 1950)
2003 - John Schlesinger, British film director (b. 1926)
2005 - Albert Mangelsdorff, German jazz trombonist (b. 1928)
2006 - Carl Brashear, First African-American U.S Navy Master Diver (b. 1931)
2007 - Bernd Jakubowski, German goal keeper (b. 1952)
2007 - Jesse Marunde, American strongman competitor (b. 1979) 

Holidays and observances
Inca festival in honor of the thunder god Ilyap'a
Roman festivals - Furinalia
Galicia (Spain) - National Day (Día da Pátria Galega).
Puerto Rico - Constitution Day (1952). Formerly Occupation Day (1898).
Ebernoe Horn Fair in Sussex, southern England
Saint Christopher, martyr [in the fifteenth century often moved, usually to July 27; Paris, Bruges, in red]
Saint Cucufas/Cougat, martyr [England, Orden; Paris]
Saint James the Great, Apostle, died 44 AD, patron saint of Spain [common]
Translation of Saint Julian of Le Mans, bishop of Le Mans, confessor (sometimes martyr) [Le Mans, Paris]
Dormition of Saint Ann, Mother of the Virgin Mary (Byzantine rite)