On this day: July 6
America names it currency, a political party holds its first convention and a first lady, media mogul, rocker, screen scream queen and religious leader are all born, all on this day in history.
1189: Richard I "the Lionheart," portrayed here in this painting by N.C. Wyeth, is crowned King of England.
1189: Richard I "the Lionheart," portrayed here in this painting by N.C. Wyeth, is crowned King of England.
1535: Sir Thomas More, seen here in this 1527 painting by Hans Holbein the Younger, is executed for treason against King Henry VIII of England.
1785: The dollar is unanimously chosen as the monetary unit for the United States.
1854: The first convention of the United States Republican Party is held in Jackson, Mich.
1885: Louis Pasteur successfully tests his vaccine against rabies. The patient is Joseph Meister, a boy who was bitten by a rabid dog.
1907: Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (center) is born.
1917: Arabian troops led by T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") and Auda ibu Tayi capture the port city of Aqaba from the Ottoman Empire during the Arab Revolt.
1919: The British dirigible R34 lands in New York, completing the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by an airship.
1921: Former first lady Nancy Reagan is born.
1925: TV show host and medial mogul Merv Griffin is born.
1925: Rock 'n' roll singer Bill Haley (right), of Bill Haley & His Comets, is born.
1927: Actress Janet Leigh, seen here in 1960's "Psycho," is born.
1928: "The Lights of New York," the first all-talking movie, is previewed in New York's Strand Theatre.
1933: The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game is played in Chicago's Comiskey Park. Babe Ruth, seen here with Al Simmons of the Chicago White Sox and Earl Averill of the Cleveland Indians, hits the first home run in All-Star game history as the American League defeats the National League 4–2.
1935: The 14th and current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is born.
1942: Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in the "Secret Annexe" above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse.
1944: Jackie Robinson refuses to move to the back of an Army bus, leading to a court martial, in which he was eventually acquitted.
1945: Nicaragua becomes the first nation to formally accept the United Nations Charter.
1945: President Harry S. Truman signs an order creating the Medal of Freedom to honor civilians whose actions aided in World War II efforts of the United States and its allies. It's eventually replaced by the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963.
1944: The Hartford Circus Fire, one of America's worst fire disasters, kills approximately 168 people and injures over 700 in Hartford, Connecticut.
1946: Actor Sylvester Stallone is born.
1947: The AK-47 goes into production in the Soviet Union.
1957: Althea Gibson wins the Wimbledon championships, becoming the first black athlete to do so.
1957: John Lennon and Paul McCartney of the Beatles are introduced to each other when Lennon's band the Quarrymen performs at the St. Peter's Church Hall fête in Woolton, England.
1964: The Beatles' first film, "A Hard Day's Night," premieres in London.
1971: Musician Louis Armstrong dies at age 69.
1973: Queen releases their first single, "Keep Yourself Alive."
1975: Rapper 50 Cent is born as Curtis James Jackson III.
1983: Fred Lynn of the California Angels hits the first grand slam in an MLB All-Star game as the American League defeats the National League 13-3.
1994: "Forrest Gump," starring Tom Hanks as the title character, opens in theaters. The movie opened with a $24-million weekend and went on to earn $677 million worldwide and win six Oscars, including Best Picture and Hanks second Best Actor award in a row.
1998: Cowboy actor and singer Roy Rogers, seen here at far left in 1948's "Under California Stars," dies at age 86.
2000: Venus Williams beats her younger sister Serena to reach the Wimbledon final in the first matchup between sisters in a tennis Grand Slam semifinal. Venus went on to beat Lindsay Davenport in the finals.
2002: Director John Frankenheimer ("The Manchurian Candidate" and "Black Sunday"), seen here in 1962, dies at age 72.
2003: Actor and dancer Buddy Ebsen, best known for playing Jed Clampett in the sitcom "The Beverly Hillbillies," dies of pneumonia at the age of 95 in Torrance, Calif. Ebsen also played the title character in the 1970s detective series "Barnaby Jones" and was Fess Parker's sidekick in Walt Disney's "Davy Crockett" miniseries. He also appeared in movies such as "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "Born to Dance" and was cast as the Tin Man in "The Wizard of Oz" until he fell ill from an allergy to aluminum dust in the makeup required to play the character.
