Richard I defeats Saladin at the battle of Jaffa (1192), and Upper Volta gains independence from France (1960). Born on this day: Neil Armstrong, Guy de Maupassant and Marine Le Pen. Died: Marilyn Monroe, Friedrich Engels and Toni Morrison.
26 events, 57 births and 62 deaths on this date.
Richard the Lionheart beat Saladin's forces outside Jaffa, gaining the strength he needed to negotiate a treaty that favoured the crusaders. The result left Christian control of the coast intact, though Jerusalem stayed in Muslim hands.
Matthew Paris · Public domainThe former French colony, then called Upper Volta, became a sovereign state on this day. Its first president, Maurice Yaméogo, led the new republic, which later became Burkina Faso in 1984.
Work began on the pedestal's foundation in New York Harbor, a gift from France that would take another two years to finish. The copper statue later became one of the most recognised symbols of the United States.
The Second Temple in Jerusalem, the centre of Jewish worship, had been destroyed, and the fires that followed were at last extinguished. Its loss reshaped Jewish religious life for centuries, since worship had centred on that single place.
Castilian forces opened a siege of Algeciras, a port held by the Emirate of Granada, on this day in 1278. The attempt failed, but it showed how the Christian kingdoms kept pressing south during the long struggle to retake the Iberian Peninsula.
Harry Houdini was a Hungarian-born American illusionist and escapologist, famous for escapes that seemed impossible. Among his stunts was escaping from a straitjacket underwater, so a contest over such feats was a natural fit for him.
LaPine Studios · Public domain
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Neil Armstrong was an American naval aviator, test pilot and university teacher before NASA picked him as an astronaut. He is remembered as the commander of Apollo 11, and the first human to set foot on the lunar surface.
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain
He wrote around 300 short stories, along with novels and travel books, and remains famous for them. His debut story, Boule de Suif, from 1880, is still often counted among his finest works, and his tales often examine the futility of war.
Nadar · Public domain
Marine Le Pen led the far-right National Rally from 2011 to 2021 and has run for the French presidency three times. She is the youngest daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the party's founder, and has sat in the National Assembly since 2017.
VOX España · Public domain
American actress and model who became one of the 1950s' best-known sex symbols, famed for comic blonde bombshell roles. Films such as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes made her a top-billed star, though she chafed at being typecast.
Sam Shaw · Public domain
Engels co-wrote The Communist Manifesto with Karl Marx and later edited Marx's Das Kapital after his death. He also financed Marx's family for years through his work at a Manchester cotton firm.
William Hall (1826–ca. 1898) (cropped and sepia tone removed) · Public domain
American novelist whose books, including Beloved and Song of Solomon, examined the lasting harm of racism and the Black American experience. She won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993 and the Pulitzer Prize for Beloved.
John Mathew Smith ( celebrity-photos.com ) · CC BY-SA 2.0
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