1787 – The Continental Congress enacts the Northwest Ordinance, establishing governing rules for the Northwest Territory. It also establishes procedures for the admission of new states and limits the expansion of slavery.
1814 – The Carabinieri, the national gendarmerie of Italy, is established. Originally founded in 1821 as the main police force for the Kingdom of Sardinia, the corps’s role was to provide “military police and general expertise in permanent service of public security”. A century later, most of the Carabinieri was disbanded by Nazi Germany for attempting to overthrow Benito Mussolini. These disbanded carabiniers joined the Italian Resistance movement during World War II. The Carabinieri still exists today as one of the four Italian armed forces under the ministry of Defense.
1863 – New York City draft riots: Opponents of conscription begin three days of rioting which would be later regarded as the worst in United States history.
1878 – Treaty of Berlin: The European powers redraw the map of the Balkans. Serbia, Montenegro, and Romania become completely independent of the Ottoman Empire.
1923 – The Hollywood Sign is officially dedicated in the hills above Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It originally reads “Hollywoodland” but the four last letters are dropped after renovation in 1949.
and Prime Minister-in-waiting Theresa May on the right
2016 – Today in History as Theresa May succeeds David Cameron as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; she is the second woman to do so, after Margaret Thatcher. Today Theresa May makes history after succeeding David Cameron as Prime Minister. Much like Margaret Thatcher, she was the Leader of the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom before assuming the role of Prime Minister.
Births
1841 – Otto Wagner, an Austrian architect, designed the Austrian Postal Savings Bank and Karlsplatz Stadtbahn Station (d. 1918)
1859 – Sidney Webb, First Baron Passfield, English economist and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1947)
1863 – Margaret Murray, Anglo-Indian Egyptologist, archaeologist, anthropologist, historian and folklorist.
1942 – Harrison Ford, American actor and producer
1950 – George Nelson, American astronomer and astronaut
Deaths
1399 – Peter Parler, German architect, designed St. Vitus Cathedral and Charles Bridge (b. 1330)
1980 – Seretse Khama, Botswana lawyer and politician, First President of Botswana (b. 1921)
2014 – Nadine Gordimer, South African novelist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1923)