- 1215 - King John of England put his seal to the Magna Carta.
- 1389 - In the Battle of Kosovo, Turks defeated Serbs and Bosnians.
- 1752 - Benjamin Franklin conducted an experiment to prove that lightning is electricity by flying a kite in a thunderstorm.
- 1904 - The General Slocum burned in New York's East River, over 1,000 died.
- 1954 - The Union of European Football Associations was founded in Basel, Switzerland.