On this day: 16 July

The Hijrah of Muhammad begins, marking the beginning of the Islamic calendar.

Battle of Spercheios: Bulgarian forces of Tsar Samuel are defeated by a Byzantine army under general Nikephoros Ouranos at the Spercheios River in Greece.

Three Roman legates place - acting illegally on their own authority - a bull of excommunication against Michael I Cerularius, the patriarch of Constantinople, and his followers on the altar of Hagia Sophia during Saturday afternoon divine liturgy. Historians frequently describe the event as the formal start of the East–West Schism.

Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa: After Pope Innocent III calls European knights to a crusade, the forces of kings Alfonso VIII of Castile, Sancho VII of Navarre, Peter II of Aragon and Afonso II of Portugal defeat those of the Berber Muslim leader Almohad, thus marking a significant turning point in the Reconquista and in the medieval history of Spain.

Muhammad ibn Yusuf, who later established the Emirate of Granada, the last Muslim state in Spain, was elected the ruler of Arjona.

Celebrated by the Carmelite Order–but doubted by modern historians–as the day when Saint Simon Stock had a vision of the Virgin Mary.

Jacques Cartier, navigator and explorer, returns home to St. Malo after claiming Stadacona (Quebec), Hochelaga (Montreal) and the River of Canada (St. Lawrence River) region for France.

The first banknotes in Europe are issued by the Swedish bank Stockholms Banco.

Manchu Qing dynasty naval forces under commander Shi Lang defeat the Kingdom of Tungning in the Battle of Penghu near the Pescadores Islands.

Father Junípero Serra founds California's first mission, Mission San Diego de Alcalá. Over the following decades, it evolves into the city of San Diego, California.

President George Washington signed the Residence Act, selecting a new permanent site along the Potomac River for the capital of the United States, which later became Washington, D.C.

The District of Columbia is established as the capital of the United States after signature of the Residence Act.

The city of La Paz, in what is today Bolivia, declares its independence from the Spanish Crown during the La Paz revolution and forms the Junta Tuitiva, the first independent government in Spanish America, led by Pedro Domingo Murillo.

Antonio María Claret y Clará founds the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, popularly known as the Claretians in Vic, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

The last apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France.

American Civil War: At the order of President Abraham Lincoln, Union troops begin a 25-mile march into Virginia for what will become the First Battle of Bull Run, the first major land battle of the war.

American Civil War: David Farragut is promoted to rear admiral, becoming the first officer in United States Navy to hold an admiral rank.

The Imperial Russian army under Grand Duke Nicholas defeats the Ottoman army and takes the city of Nikopol (modern Bulgaria).

Persian Constitutional Revolution: Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar is forced out as Shah of Persia and is replaced by his son Ahmad Shah Qajar.

John Robertson Duigan makes the first flight of the Duigan pusher biplane, the first aircraft built in Australia.

At Treasure Island on the Delaware River in the United States, the First Order of the Arrow ceremony takes place and the Order of the Arrow is founded to honor American Boy Scouts who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law.

Max Reger's Hebbel Requiem was first performed in a memorial concert for the composer, conducted by Philipp Wolfrum.

Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie promulgated the nation's first modern constitution.

The world's first parking meter is installed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

The United States conducted the first detonation of a nuclear weapon during the Trinity test (pictured).

Following token resistance, the city of Nazareth, revered by Christians as the hometown of Jesus, capitulates to Israeli troops during Operation Dekel in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.

Uruguay won the decisive match of the fourth FIFA World Cup, defeating Brazil 2–1 at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

The Catcher in the Rye (cover pictured), an American coming-of-age novel by J. D. Salinger, was published by Little, Brown.

King Leopold III of Belgium abdicates in favor of his son, Baudouin of Belgium.

The Mont Blanc Tunnel linking France and Italy opens.

The Apollo 11 lunar landing mission is launched from Cape Kennedy in Florida, USA.

Iraqi President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr resigns and is replaced by Saddam Hussein.

The Parliament of the Ukrainian SSR declares state sovereignty over the territory of the Ukrainian SSR.

Millennium Park, a public park in Chicago, Illinois, and one of the world's largest rooftop gardens, opened to the public.

A magnitude-6.6 earthquake struck off the coast of Niigata Prefecture, Japan, causing a leak of radioactive gases from the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant.

Syrian civil war: The Battle of Ras al-Ayn resumes between the People's Protection Units (YPG) and Islamist forces, beginning the Rojava–Islamist conflict.