On this day: 3 July

Civil wars of the Tetrarchy: Roman emperor Constantine the Great defeated his former colleague Licinius at the Battle of Adrianople.

Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty that would rule France until the French Revolution in 1792.

Diego de Almagro leaves the recently conquered Inca capital of Cuzco to lead an expedition to Chile.

Québec City is founded by Samuel de Champlain.

French and Indian War: George Washington surrendered Fort Necessity in Pennsylvania, the only military surrender in his career.

Pitcairn Island is discovered by Midshipman Robert Pitcairn on an expeditionary voyage commanded by Philip Carteret.

Norway's oldest newspaper still in print, Adresseavisen, is founded and the first edition is published.

American Revolutionary War: George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The Bank for Savings in the City of New-York, the first savings bank in the United States, opens.

The first state normal school in the United States, the forerunner to today's Framingham State University, opens in Lexington, Massachusetts with three students.

Governor-General Peter von Scholten emancipates all remaining slaves in the Danish West Indies.

France invades the Roman Republic and restores the Papal States.

Congress establishes the United States' 2nd mint in San Francisco.

Confederate forces were defeated by the Union Army on the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg (pictured), a turning point in the American Civil War.

Austro-Prussian War is decided at the Battle of Königgrätz, enabling Prussia to exclude Austria from German affairs.

Dow Jones & Company publishes its first stock average.

Karl Benz officially unveils the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first purpose-built automobile.

The New-York Tribune becomes the first newspaper to use a linotype machine, eliminating typesetting by hand.

Idaho is admitted as the 43rd U.S. state.

A Spanish squadron, led by Pascual Cervera y Topete, is defeated by an American squadron under William T. Sampson in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba.

Start of the Young Turk Revolution in the Ottoman Empire, forcing Sultan Abdul Hamid II leads to restore the Constitution of 1876 and reconvene the parliament.

Confederate veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913 reenact Pickett's Charge; upon reaching the high-water mark of the Confederacy they are met by the outstretched hands of friendship from Union survivors.

On the 75th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Gettysburg, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Eternal Light Peace Memorial.

World War II: The Minsk Offensive clears German troops from the city.

SS United States (pictured) departed New York Harbor on her maiden voyage, on which completion she became the fastest ocean liner to cross the Atlantic.

The Constitution of Puerto Rico is approved by the United States Congress.

US president Jimmy Carter signed a presidential finding, authorizing covert operations to aid the mujahideen against the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, providing the second connection between the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosphorus.

General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi led a coalition to depose President Mohamed Morsi in a coup d'état in Cairo, suspending the Egyptian Constitution of 2012.

In the U.S. state of Arizona, the Boundary Fire (pictured) burned out after 32 days, burning 17,788 acres (7,199 ha) of the Coconino and Kaibab National Forests.