2 July
Today is World UFO Day. Since 2001 UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) enthusiasts have used 2 July as an opportunity to celebrate UFOs and to force the world’s governments to ‘tell the truth about earthly visists from outer space aliens’. Here is the official website.
What happened today in history?
- 1644 – Battle of Marston Moor (English Civil War)
- 1698 – First steam engine patented by Thomas Savery
- 1777 – Slavery is abolished in Vermont – the first US State to do so.
- 1897 – Guglielmo Marconi patents radio.
- 1937 – Amelia Earhart is last heard flying over the Pacific Ocean.
- 2002 – First solo non-stop round the world journey in a hot air balloon is completed by Steve Fossett.
Who was born today?
- 1489 – Thomas Cranmer – English Archbishop of Canterbury.
- 1492 – Elizabeth Tudor – daughter of Henry VII of England.
- 1903 – Alec Douglas-Home – 66th Prime Minister of United Kingdom.
- 1972 – Darren Shan – YA / Children’s writer.
Who died today?
- 1566 – Nostradamus – French astrologer.
- 1850 – Robert Peel – 28th and 30th Prime Minister of England.
- 1961 – Ernest Hemingway – American author.
- 1977 – Vladimir Nabokov – Russian author (Lolita)
- 1999 – Mario Puzo – American author (The Godfather)