1096 – Crusaders under Peter the Hermit reached Sofia, Bulgaria. There they met their Byzantine escort, which brought them safely the rest of the way to Constantinople. by August 1.

1543 – England’s King Henry VIII married his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr.

1690 – Protestant forces led by William of Orange defeated the Roman Catholic army of James II.

1691 – William III defeated the allied Irish and French armies at the Battle of Aughrim, Ireland.

1790 – The French Assembly approved a Civil Constitution providing for the election of priests and bishops.

1806 – The Confederation of the Rhine was established in Germany.

1862 – The U.S. Congress authorized the Medal of Honor.

1864 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln witnessed the battle where Union forces repelled Jubal Early’s army on the outskirts of Washington, DC.

1941 – Moscow was bombed by the German Luftwaffe for the first time.

1954 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed a highway modernization program, with costs to be shared by federal and state governments.

1984 – Democratic presidential candidate Walter F. Mondale named U.S. Rep. Geraldine A. Ferraro of New York to be his running mate. Ferraro was the first woman to run for vice president on a major party ticket.

1990 – Russian republic president Boris N. Yeltsin announced his resignation from the the Soviet Communist Party.

2000 – Russia launched the Zvezda after two years of delays. The module was built to be the living quarters for the International Space Station (ISS.)