12 History Lessons + 5 Births & 5 Deaths for July 11, 2025
Today’s History:
- 1302 – Battle of the Golden Spurs: Flemish militia defeats the French army, a landmark in European warfare.
- 1533 – Pope Clement VII excommunicates England’s King Henry VIII for annulling his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
- 1804 – U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr fatally wounds Alexander Hamilton in a duel in Weehawken, New Jersey.
- 1893 – The first cultured pearl is created by Kokichi Mikimoto in Japan.
- 1914 – Babe Ruth makes his Major League Baseball debut with the Boston Red Sox as a pitcher.
- 1921 – Former U.S. President William Howard Taft is sworn in as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the only person to hold both offices.
- 1972 – The World Chess Championship match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky begins in Reykjavík, Iceland.
- 1977 – Martin Luther King Jr. is posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter.
- 1987 – According to the UN, world population reaches approximately five billion—designated as “World Population Day.”
- 1995 – The United States resumes diplomatic relations with Vietnam after a 20-year break.
- 2011 – News Corporation announces the closure of News of the World amid a phone hacking scandal.
- 2021 – Richard Branson completes a suborbital flight aboard Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity, marking a milestone in private space travel.
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1956 – Sela Ward, Emmy-winning actress known for Sisters and CSI: NY (69)
- 1957 – Peter Murphy, English rock singer (Bauhaus) (68)
- 1964 – Craig Charles, British actor and TV presenter (Red Dwarf, Robot Wars) (61)
- 1973 – Lil’ Kim, American rapper and songwriter (52)
- 1994 – Alessia Cara, Canadian singer-songwriter (31)
Today’s Deaths:
- 1937 – George Gershwin, American composer and pianist (Rhapsody in Blue) (38)
- 1989 – Sir Laurence Olivier, iconic English actor and director (82)
- 2008 – Michael DeBakey, pioneering heart surgeon (99)
- 2014 – Tommy Ramone, last surviving original member of the Ramones (65)
- 2021 – Charlie Robinson, actor best known as Mac on Night Court (75)
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