293 BC – The oldest known Roman temple to Venus is founded, starting the institution of Vinalia Rustica.
1227 – Genghis Khan, Mongol conqueror, dies
1572 – Marriage in Paris, France of the Huguenot King Henry III of Navarre to Margaret of Valois, in a supposed attempt to reconcile Protestants and Catholics.
1587 – Virginia Dare, granddaughter of Governor John White of the Colony of Roanoke, becomes the first English child born in the Americas.
1590 – John White, the governor of the Roanoke Colony, returns from a supply trip to England and finds his settlement deserted.
1612 – The trials of the Pendle witches, one of England’s most famous witch trials, begins at Lancaster Assizes.
1634 – Urbain Grandier, accused and convicted of sorcery, is burned alive in Loudun, France.
1686 – Cassini reports seeing a satellite orbiting Venus
1774 – Meriwether Lewis, American soldier, explorer, and politician, co-leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (d. 1809) was born.
1783 – A huge fireball meteor is seen across Great Britain as it passes over the east coast.
1850 – Honoré de Balzac, writer, dies at 51
Balzac is regarded as one of the founders of realism in European literature. He is renowned for his multifaceted characters, who are morally ambiguous. His writing influenced many subsequent novelists such as Marcel Proust, Émile Zola, Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, Eça de Queirós, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Gustave Flaubert, Benito Pérez Galdós, Marie Corelli, Henry James, William Faulkner, Jack Kerouac, and Italo Calvino
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Globe Tavern – Union forces try to cut a vital Confederate supply-line into Petersburg, Virginia, by attacking the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad.
1914 – US President Woodrow Wilson issues “Proclamation of Neutrality”
1919 – Anti-Cigarette League of America forms in Chicago Illinois
1920 – The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing women’s suffrage.
1933 – Roman Polanski, Poland, director (Rosemary’s Baby, Chinatown, Pirates)Born
1934 – Vincent Bugliosi, attorney/author (Helter-Skelter)Birthed
1936 – Robert Redford, Santa Monica California, American actor (Sting, Candidate, Natural, Great Gatsby)Born
1937 – 1st FM radio construction permit issued (W1X0J (WGTR) in Boston MA)
1938 – The Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting New York, United States with Ontario, Canada over the Saint Lawrence River, is dedicated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1943 – Martin Mull, Chicago Illinois, actor/comedian (Bad Manners, Flick, Serial) Born
1945 – Nona Hendryx, Trenton NJ, rocker (LaBelle-Lady Marmalade) Born
1950 – Dennis Elliott, English drummer and sculptor (Foreigner and If) was born.
1953 – Louie Gohmert, American politician TX – Born
1957 – Dennis Leary, actor/comic (MTV) Born
1958 – “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov published
1960 – The Beatles give their 1st public performance (Kaiserkeller in Hamburg)
1961 – Timothy Geithner, American banker and politician, 75th United States Secretary of the Treasury, birthed
1963 – American civil rights movement: James Meredith becomes the first black person to graduate from the University of Mississippi.
1965 – Jim Florentine, American comedian,(Metal Show) Born
1965 – Vietnam War: Operation Starlite begins – United States Marines destroy a Viet Cong stronghold on the Van Tuong peninsula in the first major American ground battle of the war.
1966 – Vietnam War: the Battle of Long Tan ensues after a patrol from the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment clashes with a Viet Cong force in Phước Tuy Province.
1967 - Dan Peters, American musician (Drummer – Bundle of Hiss, Nirvana, Mudhoney…) Born
1969 – Mick Jagger accidentally shot while filming “Ned Kelly”
1969 – Woodstock Music & Art Fair closes with Jimi Hendrix / Band of Gypsys as the final act
1969 – Everlast, American musician – Born
1969 – Edward Norton, American actor – Born
1971 – Vietnam War: Australia and New Zealand decide to withdraw their troops from Vietnam.
1972 – Police fine Paul & Linda McCartney ś800 in Sweden cannabis possession
1973 – Gene Krupa, drummer, plays for final time with Benny Goodman Quartet
1977 – 2 girls are killed by a runaway car outside of Graceland
1977 – Steve Biko is arrested at a police roadblock under the Terrorism Act No 83 of 1967 in King William’s Town, South Africa. He would later die of the injuries sustained during this arrest bringing attention to South Africa’s apartheid policies.
1979 – Iran Ayatollah Khomeini demands Saint War against Kurds
1989 – Leading presidential hopeful Luis Carlos Galán is assassinated near Bogotá in Colombia.
1990 – B F Skinner, psychologist (Skinner Box), dies of Leukemia at 86
1992 – Frances Bean Cobain, daughter of Kurt Cobain & Courtney Love – Born
2000 – A Federal jury finds the US EPA guilty of discrimination against Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, later inspiring passage of the No FEAR Act.
2005 – Dennis Rader is sentenced to 175 years in prison for the BTK serial killings.
2005 – A massive power blackout hits the Indonesian island of Java, affecting almost 100 million people, the one of the largest and most widespread power outages in history.
2008 – President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf resigns due to the threat of impeachment.
2011 – The West Memphis Three are released from prison after 18 years in imprisonment