14 – Augustus Caesar, first Roman Emperor (b. 63 BC)Murdered
43 BC – Octavian, later known as Augustus, compels the Roman Senate to elect him Consul.
1561 – 18-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots, returns to Scotland after spending 13 years in France.
1612 – The “Samlesbury witches”, three women from the Lancashire village of Samlesbury, England, are put on trial, accused of practicing witchcraft, one of the most famous witch trials in British history.
1662 – Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher (b. 1623)Dies
1692 – Salem witch trials: in Salem, Province of Massachusetts Bay, five people, one woman and four men, including a clergyman, are executed after being convicted of witchcraft.
1782 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Blue Licks – the last major engagement of the war, almost ten months after the surrender of the British commander Charles Cornwallis following the Siege of Yorktown.
1812 – War of 1812: American frigate USS Constitution defeats the British frigate HMS Guerriere off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada earning the nickname “Old Ironsides”.
1839 – The French government announces that Louis Daguerre’s photographic process is a gift “free to the world”.
1854 – The First Sioux War begins when United States Army soldiers kill Lakota chief Conquering Bear and in return are massacred.
1862 – American Indian Wars: during an uprising in Minnesota, Lakota warriors decide not to attack heavily-defended Fort Ridgely and instead turn to the settlement of New Ulm, killing white settlers along the way.
1870 – Bernard Baruch, financier/presidential adviser (Cold War)Birthed (the Kissinger of his day..)
1871 – Orville Wright, Dayton OH, aviator (Wright Brothers), (d. 1912)Born
1883 – Coco Chanel, French fashion designer, founded the Chanel Company (d. 1971) was born.
1895 – American Frontier murderer and outlaw John Wesley Hardin is killed by an off-duty policeman in a saloon in El Paso, Texas.
1902 – Ogden Nash, Rye NY, humorous poet (I’m a Stranger Here Myself)Born
1909 – The first automobile race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
1921 – Gene Roddenberry, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1991) was born.
1927 – Metropolitan Sergius proclaims the declaration of loyalty of the Russian Orthodox Church to the Soviet Union.
1934 – The creation of the position Führer is approved by the German electorate with 89.9% of the popular vote.
1939 – Ginger [Peter] Baker, England, drummer (Cream-White Room)Born
1942 – World War II: Operation Jubilee – the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division leads an amphibious assault by allied forces on Dieppe, Seine-Maritime, France and fails, many Canadians are killed or captured. The operation was intended to develop and try new amphibious landing tactics for the coming full invasion in Normandy.
1944 – World War II: Liberation of Paris – Paris, France rises against German occupation with the help of Allied troops.
1945 – Ian Gillan, English singer-songwriter (Deep Purple, Episode Six, Gillan, and WhoCares) was born.
1946 – Bill Clinton, American politician, 42nd President of the United States was birthed
1948 – Tipper Gore, wife of vice president Al Gore (1993-01)Birthed
1952 – Jonathan Frakes, American actor and director was born. (2335 – William T Riker, Valdez Alaska, character on Star Trek Next Generation)
1953 – Cold War: The CIA and MI6 help to overthrow the government of Mohammad Mosaddegh in Iran and reinstate the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
1960 – Sputnik program: Korabl-Sputnik 2 – the Soviet Union launches the satellite with the dogs Belka and Strelka, 40 mice, 2 rats and a variety of plants.
1960 – Cold War: in Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union, downed American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is sentenced to ten years imprisonment by the Soviet Union for espionage.
1977 – Groucho Marx, American comedian, actor, and singer (b. 1890) died.
1980 – Otto Frank, German-Swiss businessman, father of Anne Frank (b. 1889) died.
1980 – Saudia Flight 163, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar burns after making an emergency landing at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killing 301 people.
1989 – Radio Caroline, the offshore pirate station in the North Sea, is raided by British and Dutch governments.
1989 – Eight U.S. hostages were being held in Lebanon and the Reagan government was struggling to get them back home. Iran offered to assist the American government to get the prisoners back, but wanted the U.S. to give back some Iranian resources and money.
1991 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union, August Coup: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is placed under house arrest while on holiday in the town of Foros, Ukraine.
1991 – Crown Heights riot: Black groups target Hasidic Jews on the streets of Crown Heights in New York, New York for three days, after two black children were hit by a car driven by a Hasidic man.
1991 – Janajev & KGB coup in Russia deposes Mikhail Gorbachev
2002 – A Russian Mil Mi-26 helicopter carrying troops is hit by a Chechen missile outside Grozny, killing 118 soldiers.
2005 – The first-ever joint military exercise between Russia and China, called Peace Mission 2005 begins.
2010 – (BS!!!)Operation Iraqi Freedom ends, with the last of the United States brigade combat teams crossing the border to Kuwait.
2012 – Tony Scott, American director, commits “suicide” at 68