• 96 - Nerva is proclaimed Roman Emperor after Domitian is assassinated.
• 324 - Constantine the Great decisively defeats Licinius in the Battle of Chrysopolis, establishing Constantine's sole control over the Roman Empire.
• 1180 - Philip Augustus becomes king of France.
• 1454 - In the Battle of Chojnice, the Polish army is defeated by Teutonic army during the Thirteen Years' War.
• 1502 - Christopher Columbus lands at Costa Rica on his fourth, and final, voyage.
• 1544 - Charles V of Germany and Francis I of France sign peace treaty (Truce of Crepy-en-Laonnois)
• 1573 - Spanish attack on Alkmaar.
• 1635 - Emperor Ferdinand II declares war on France.
• 1679 - New Hampshire becomes a county of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• 1739 - The Treaty of Belgrade is signed, ceding Belgrade to the Ottoman Empire.
• 1759 - The British capture Quebec City.
• 1793 - The first cornerstone of the Capitol building is laid by George Washington.
• 1809 - Royal Opera House in London opens.
• 1810 - First Government Junta in Chile. Though supposed to rule only in the absence of the king, it was in fact the first step towards independence from Spain, and it's commemorated as such.
• 1812 - Fire of Moscow (1812) fades down after destroying more than three quarters of the city. Napoleon returns from Petrovsky Palace to Moscow Kremlin, spared from the fire.
• 1837 - Tiffany and Co. (first named Tiffany & Young) is founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young in New York City, New York. The store was called a "stationery and fancy goods emporium".
• 1838 - Anti-Corn Law League established by Richard Cobden.
• 1850 - The U.S. Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Act.
• 1851 - The New-York Daily Times, which will become The New York Times, begins publishing.
• 1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Chickamauga.
• 1872 - King Oscar II accedes to the throne of Sweden-Norway.
• 1873 - The Panic of 1873 begins.
• 1879 - Blackpool Illuminations were switched on for the first time.
• 1882 - Pacific Stock Exchange opens.
• 1885 - Riots break out in Montreal to protest compulsory smallpox vaccination.
• 1895 - Booker T Washington delivers "Atlanta Compromise" address.
• 1895 - Daniel David Palmer gives the first chiropractic adjustment.
• 1898 - Fashoda Incident - Lord Kitchener's ships reach Fashoda, Sudan.
• 1906 - A typhoon with tsunami kills an estimated 10,000 people in Hong Kong.
• 1910 - In Amsterdam, 25,000 demonstrate for general suffrage.
• 1911 - Russian Premier Peter Stolypin shot at the Kiev Opera House
• 1914 - The Irish Home Rule Act becomes law, but is delayed until after World War I.
• 1914 - World War I: South African troops land in German South West Africa.
• 1919 - The Netherlands gives women the right to vote.
• 1919 - Fritz Pollard becomes the first African-American to play professional football for a major team, the Akron Pros.
• 1922 - Hungary admitted to League of Nations.
• 1927 - Columbia Broadcasting System goes on the air.
• 1928 - Juan de la Cierva makes first autogyro crossing of the English Channel.
• 1931 - The Mukden Incident gives Japan the pretext to invade and occupy Manchuria.
• 1932 - Actress Peg Entwistle commits suicide by jumping from the letter "H" in the Hollywood sign.
• 1934 - USSR admitted to League of Nations.
• 1939 - World War II: Polish government of Ignacy Mościcki flees to Romania.
• 1939 - William Joyce's first Nazi propaganda broadcast.
• 1940 - World War II: Italian troops conquer Sidi Barrani.
• 1942 - Canadian Broadcasting Corporation authorized.
• 1943 - World War II: The Jews of Minsk are massacred at Sobibór.
• 1943 - World War II: Hitler orders deportation of Danish Jews.
• 1944 - World War II: British submarine HMS Tradewind torpedoes Junyō Maru, 5,600 killed.
• 1945 - Gen. Douglas MacArthur moves his command headquarters to Tokyo.
• 1947 - The United States Air Force becomes an independent service.
• 1948 - Communist Madiun uprising in Dutch Indies.
• 1948 - Margaret Chase Smith becomes the first woman elected to the US Senate without completing another senator's term when she defeats Democratic opponent Adrian Scolten.
• 1948 - Ralph Bunche confirmed as acting UN mediator for Palestine and Israel.
• 1959 - Vanguard 3 launched into Earth orbit.
• 1960 - Fidel Castro arrives in New York City as the head of the Cuban delegation to the United Nations.
• 1961 - U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld dies in a plane crash while attempting to negotiate peace in the war-torn Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• 1962 - Rwanda, Burundi and Jamaica admitted to the United Nations.
• 1964 - Constantine II of Greece marries Danish princess Anne-Marie.
• 1964 - North Vietnamese Army begins infiltration of South Vietnam.
• 1967 - Esporte Clube Santo André, of Brazil, is founded.
• 1972 - First Ugandans expelled by Idi Amin arrive in the UK.
• 1973 - East and West Germany are admitted to the United Nations.
• 1974 - Hurricane Fifi strikes Honduras with 110 mph winds, killing 5,000 people.
• 1975 - Patty Hearst is arrested after a year on the FBI Most Wanted List.
• 1976 - Mao Zedong's funeral takes place in Beijing.
• 1977 - Voyager I takes 1st space photograph of Earth & Moon together.
• 1978 - Leaders of Israel and Egypt reach a settlement for the Middle East at Camp David.
• 1980 - Soyuz 38 carries 2 cosmonauts (1 Cuban) to Salyut 6 space station.
• 1981 - Assemblée Nationale votes to abolish capital punishment in France
• 1982 - Christian militia begin massacre of 600 Palestinians in Lebanon.
• 1984 - Joe Kittinger completes first solo balloon crossing of the Atlantic.
• 1987 - Ronald Reagan announces joint destruction of nuclear warheads by USA and USSR.
• 1988 - End of pro-democracy uprisings in Myanmar after a bloody military coup by the State Law and Order Restoration Council. Thousands, mostly monks and civilians (primarily students) were killed by the Tatmadaw.
• 1989 - Hurricane Hugo hits Puerto Rico, killing six.
• 1990 - Liechtenstein becomes a member of the United Nations.
• 1991 - Yugoslavia began a naval blockade of 7 Adriatic port cities.
• 1992 - An explosion rocks Giant Mine at the height of a labour dispute, killing 9 replacement workers.
• 1997 - U.S. media magnate Ted Turner donates USD $1 billion to the United Nations.
• 1997 - Voters in Wales vote yes (50.3%) on a referendum on Welsh autonomy.
• 1998 - ICANN is formed.
• 2001 - First mailing of anthrax letters from Trenton, New Jersey in the 2001 anthrax attacks.
• 2002 - The body of missing schoolgirl Amanda Dowler is found in Yateley heath in Hampshire, ending a six-month search.
• 2003 - Hurricane Isabel makes landfall in the U.S.
• 2003 - The UK's Local Government Act 2003, repealing Section 28, receives Royal Assent.
• 2006 - Right wing protesters riot the building of the Hungarian Television in Budapest, Hungary, one day after an audio tape was made public, on which Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány admitted he and his party lied during the 2006 general elections.
• 2007 - President General Pervez Musharraf announces that he'll step down as army chief and restore civilian rule to Pakistan, but only after he's re-elected president
• 2007 - Buddhist monks join anti-government protesters in Myanmar, starting what some call the Saffron Revolution

Births