What happened on 3 July?

8 events from the Ever-When timeline, ranked by how much they mattered.

1. 987 Founding of the Capetian dynasty Hugh Capet is elected King of the Franks, beginning a royal dynasty that will reign for over 800 years.
2. 1608 Champlain founds Quebec Samuel de Champlain builds his Habitation beneath the cliff at Quebec — the first permanent French settlement in North America, and the capital of everything that follows.
3. 1866 Battle of Königgrätz (Sadowa) Prussian needle-gun and railway-driven mobilisation crush Austrian army; decides German question in Prussia's favour.
4. 2013 Sisi's coup closes the Egyptian spring A year after Egypt's first free presidential election, the army removes the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi amid vast protests against him — and the following month kills over 8
5. 1775 Washington takes command of the Continental Army Under an elm on Cambridge common, a Virginia planter who has never commanded more than a regiment takes charge of the New England militiamen besieging Boston. George Washington wil
6. 1940 The Royal Navy fires on the French fleet Rather than risk France's warships passing to Hitler, Churchill orders Force H to present the fleet at Mers-el-Kébir with an ultimatum — and, when it expires, to open fire on yeste
7. 1979 Operation Cyclone The CIA arms and funds the Afghan mujahideen, the largest covert operation of the Cold War.
8. 1969 Failure of the Soviet N1 Moon rocket The USSR's giant Moon rocket destroys its own launch complex in one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever — the secret reason there was no red flag on the Moon.