Union forces hold Gettysburg ridges against Confederate assault (1863), and Dominion of Canada comes into being through Confederation (1867). Born on this day: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Diana, princess of Wales and Pamela Anderson. Died: Marlon Brando, Nostradamus and Mikhail Bakunin.
31 events, 71 births and 74 deaths on this date.
On the first day of a three-day battle in Pennsylvania, Union cavalry under John Buford held the low ridges northwest of town until infantry reinforcements arrived. The fighting that followed halted Robert E. Lee's invasion of the North.
Thure de Thulstrup / Adam Cuerden · Public domainThree British colonies in North America united into a federation, forming a dominion of four provinces. It began a long process of new provinces and territories joining, and a gradual loosening of ties with the United Kingdom.
Two naturalists' independent ideas on how species change over time were read aloud together at London's Linnean Society. Darwin and Wallace had each reached the idea of natural selection, which explains how species branch from shared ancestors.
Justinian's general Narses routed the Ostrogothic army in central Italy, and its king Totila was fatally hurt in the fight. The victory gave the Byzantines a major step toward retaking Italy after years of fighting.
Bermuda, a British territory of islands in the North Atlantic, gained a direct telegraph link to Canada. Messages could now reach North America by wire rather than by ship.
Tiberius Julius Alexander, the Roman governor of Egypt, had his legions in Alexandria swear loyalty to Vespasian. It was an early step in Vespasian's bid to become emperor during the chaotic Year of the Four Emperors.
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Leibniz was a German polymath who developed calculus independently of Isaac Newton. He also made lasting contributions to philosophy, binary arithmetic, and library cataloguing, earning him the nickname last universal genius.
Christoph Bernhard Francke · Public domain
Diana became the Princess of Wales after her 1981 wedding to Prince Charles, and later won wide admiration for her work on AIDS awareness and the campaign against landmines. Her death in a Paris car crash in 1997 left the country grieving.
John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA ( Archived link) · CC BY-SA 2.0
Pamela Anderson is a Canadian-American actress and model, best known for playing C.J. Parker in the television series Baywatch. She was also the Playboy magazine cover star who holds the record for the most covers of any individual.
Norman Wong · CC BY-SA 4.0
Marlon Brando was an American actor who helped bring method acting to mainstream audiences. He won two Academy Awards, for On the Waterfront and The Godfather, and is remembered for his intense, rebellious screen presence.
None visible/Paramount Pictures · Public domain
Michel de Nostredame, known as Nostradamus, was a French apothecary and astrologer whose 1555 book of rhyming quatrains claimed to foretell future events. Despite his fame as a seer, he was a practising physician who fought plague outbreaks, and he is remembered mainly for those prophecies.
After César de Notre-Dame · Public domain
Bakunin was a Russian noble turned revolutionary who became one of anarchism's most influential thinkers. He clashed bitterly with Karl Marx over whether the state could be used to bring about socialism.
Nadar · Public domain
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