1614 – In Virginia, Native American Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe.
1621 – The Mayflower sets sail from Plymouth, Massachusetts on a return trip to England.
1710 – The Statute of Anne receives the Royal Assent establishing the Copyright law of the United Kingdom.
1722 – The Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen discovers Easter Island.
1792 – U.S. President George Washington exercises his authority to veto a bill, the first time this power is used in the United States.
1856 – Booker T. Washington, American author and educator (d. 1915) was born.
1900 – Archaeologists in Knossos, Crete, discover a large cache of clay tablets with hieroglyphic writing in a script they call Linear B.
1922 – The American Birth Control League, forerunner of Planned Parenthood, is incorporated.
1923 – Firestone Tire and Rubber Company begins production of balloon-tires.
1932 – Alcohol prohibition in Finland ends. Alcohol sales begin in Alko liquor stores.
1932 – Dominion of Newfoundland: 10,000 rioters seize the Colonial Building leading to the end of self-government.
1933 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs two executive orders: 6101 to establish the Civilian Conservation Corps, and 6102 “forbidding the Hoarding of Gold Coin, Gold Bullion, and Gold Certificates” by U.S. citizens.
1937 – Colin Powell, American general and politician, 65th United States Secretary of State was born.
1943 – World War II: American bomber aircraft accidentally cause more than 900 civilian deaths, including 209 children, and 1,300 wounded among the civilian population of the Belgian town of Mortsel. Their target was the Erla factory one kilometer from the residential area hit.
1944 – World War II: Two hundred seventy inhabitants of the Greek town of Kleisoura are executed by the Germans.
1948 – Les Binks, Northern Ireland-born British drummer (Judas Priest, Lionheart, Tytan, and Axis Point) was born.
1948 – Dave Holland, English drummer (Judas Priest, Pinkerton’s Assorted Colours, Finders Keepers, and Trapeze) was born.
1949 – A fire in a hospital in Effingham, Illinois, kills 77 people and leads to nationwide fire code improvements in the United States.
1951 – Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are sentenced to death for spying for the Soviet Union.
1956 – Fidel Castro declares himself at war with Cuban President Fulgencio Batista.
1958 – Ripple Rock, an underwater threat to navigation in the Seymour Narrows in Canada is destroyed in one of the largest non-nuclear controlled explosions of the time.
1964 – Douglas MacArthur, American general (b. 1880) died.
1966 – Mike McCready, American guitarist and songwriter (Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog, Mad Season, and The Rockfords) was born.
1969 – Vietnam War: Massive antiwar demonstrations occur in many U.S. cities.
1986 – Three people are killed in the bombing of the La Belle Discothèque in West Berlin, Germany.
1992 – Sam Walton, American businessman, founded Walmart and Sam’s Club (b. 1918) died.
1994 – American musician Kurt Cobain commits suicide.
1997 – Allen Ginsberg, American poet (b. 1926) died.
1999 – Two Libyans suspected of bringing down Pan Am flight 103 in 1988 are handed over for eventual trial in the Netherlands.
2002 – Layne Staley, American singer-songwriter (Alice in Chains, Class of ’99, Mad Season, and Alice N’ Chains) (b. 1967) died.
2007 – Mark St. John, American guitarist (Kiss and White Tiger) (b. 1956) died.
2009 – North Korea launches its controversial Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 rocket. The satellite passed over mainland Japan, which prompted an immediate reaction from the United Nations Security Council, as well as participating states of Six-party talks.
2010 – Twenty-nine coal miners are killed in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia.