1547 – Hernán Cortés, Spanish general and explorer (b. 1485) died.
1763 – Dedication of the Touro Synagogue, in Newport, Rhode Island, the first synagogue in what will become the United States.
1775 – The USS Alfred becomes the first vessel to fly the Grand Union Flag (the precursor to the Stars and Stripes); the flag is hoisted by John Paul Jones.
1804 – At Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of the French, the first French Emperor in a thousand years.
1814 – Marquis de Sade, French philosopher, author, and politician (b. 1740) died.
1823 – Monroe Doctrine: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President James Monroe proclaims American neutrality in future European conflicts, and warns European powers not to interfere in the Americas.
1845 – Manifest Destiny: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President James K. Polk proposes that the United States should aggressively expand into the West.
1859 – Militant abolitionist leader John Brown is hanged for his October 16 raid on Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.
1927 – Following 19 years of Ford Model T production, the Ford Motor Company unveils the Ford Model A as its new automobile.
1927 – Near Honolulu the faithful have been making pilgrimages to a sacred stone called the Wahawa, which natives claim has healing powers. The site has attracted crowds of sick people and on the previous Sunday 1,200 visitors came to the site. Twenty miles out of Honolulu, the holy monolith is devotedly hung with garlands and it is rumored that bad luck follows those who scoff.
1930 – Great Depression: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President Herbert Hoover proposes a US$150 million public works program to help generate jobs and stimulate the economy.
1939 – Harry Reid, American lawyer and politician, 25th Lieutenant Governor of Nevada was birthed
1939 – New York City’s LaGuardia Airport opens.
1942 – World War II: During the Manhattan Project, a team led by Enrico Fermi initiates the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.
1943 – In early 1943 rationing of food was to take place starting with meat and then including canned foods. Each household was limited to 48 points in a ration book. Rationing had been in effect in England for a year before it took place in America.
1943 – World War II: A Luftwaffe bombing raid on the harbour of Bari, Italy, sinks numerous cargo and transport ships, including the American SS John Harvey, which is carrying a stockpile of World War I-era mustard gas.
1947 – Following the vote by the United nations to create two states, one Jewish and one Arab in Palestine ( 1947 UN Partition Plan ), riots break out in Jerusalem when the Arab Higher Committee declare a three-day strike and public protest against the United nations ruling.
1950 – Paul Watson, Canadian activist, founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society was born.
1954 – Cold War: The United States Senate votes 65 to 22 to censure Joseph McCarthy for “conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute”.
1956 – The Granma reaches the shores of Cuba’s Oriente Province. Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and 80 other members of the 26th of July Movement disembark to initiate the Cuban Revolution.
1960 – Rick Savage, English singer-songwriter and bass player (Def Leppard and Atomic Mass) was born.
1961 – In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist–Leninist and that Cuba is going to adopt Communism.
1962 – Vietnam War: After a trip to Vietnam at the request of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield becomes the first American official to comment adversely on the war’s progress.
1964 – Students storm the administration building ( Sproul Hall ) on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley which protesters took over in a massive sit-in as part of the Free Speech Movement (FSM) .
1968 – Nate Mendel, American bass player (Foo Fighters, Sunny Day Real Estate, The Fire Theft, and Juno) was born.
1970 – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA ) proposed by President Richard Nixon to protect human health and with safeguarding the natural environment: air, water, and land begins operation. Amongst other things they do are to provide and monitor the EPA fuel economy test manufacturers use to advertise the gas mileage of their vehicles.
1971 – Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai, and Umm al-Quwain form the United Arab Emirates.
1976 – Fidel Castro becomes President of Cuba, replacing Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado.
1978 – Christopher Wolstenholme, English singer-songwriter and bass player (Muse) was born.
1979 – A mob in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, has burned the US Embassy to the ground, killing a US marine
1980 – Salvadoran Civil War: Four U.S. nuns and churchwomen, Ita Ford, Maura Clarke, Jean Donovan, and Dorothy Kazel, are murdered by a military death squad.
1982 – At the University of Utah, Barney Clark becomes the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart.
1988 – Benazir Bhutto is sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head the government of an Islam-dominated state.
1991 – Canada and Poland become the first nations on earth to recognize the independence of Ukraine from the Soviet Union.
1993 – Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar is shot and killed in Medellín.
1993 – Space Shuttle program: STS-61 – NASA launches the Space Shuttle Endeavour on a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
1999 – The United Kingdom devolves political power in Northern Ireland to the Northern Ireland Executive.
2001 – Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
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