762 – Baghdad is founded by caliph Al-Mansur.
1502 – Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras during his fourth voyage.
1608 – At Ticonderoga (now Crown Point, New York), Samuel de Champlain shoots and kills two Iroquois chiefs. This was to set the tone for French-Iroquois relations for the next one hundred years.
1619 – In Jamestown, Virginia, the first representative assembly in the Americas, the House of Burgesses, convenes for the first time.
1676 – Nathaniel Bacon issues the “Declaration of the People of Virginia”, beginning Bacon’s Rebellion against the rule of Governor William Berkeley.
1729 – Foundation of Baltimore, Maryland.
1733 – The first Masonic Grand Lodge in the future United States is constituted in Massachusetts.
1818 - Emily Jane Bronte, Thornton England, novelist (Wuthering Heights), (d. 1848) Born
1863 – American Indian Wars: Representatives of the United States and tribal leaders including Chief Pocatello (of the Shoshone) sign the Treaty of Box Elder.
1863 – Henry Ford, American businessman, founded the Ford Motor Company (d. 1947) was born.
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of the Crater – Union forces attempt to break Confederate lines at Petersburg, Virginia by exploding a large bomb under their trenches.
1865 – The steamboat Brother Jonathan sinks off the coast of Crescent City, California, killing 225 passengers, the deadliest shipwreck on the Pacific Coast of the U.S. at the time.
1866 – New Orleans, Louisiana’s Democratic government orders police to raid an integrated Republican Party meeting, killing 40 people and injuring 150.
1871 – The Staten Island Ferry Westfield’s boiler explodes, killing over 85 people.
1881 – Smedley Butler, American general, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1940) was born.
1898 – Otto von Bismarck, German politician, 1st Chancellor of Germany (b. 1815) died.
1900 – Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. 1844)
1916 – Black Tom Island explosion in Jersey City, New Jersey.
1929 – Sid Kroft, Athens Greece, puppeteer (Barbara Mandrell Show) Born
1932 – Premiere of Walt Disney’s Flowers and Trees, the first cartoon short to use Technicolor and the first Academy Award winning cartoon short.
1936 – Buddy Guy, Blues rocker, Born
1941 – Paul Anka, Canadian singer-songwriter and actor was born.
1943 – Adolf Hitler is informed that Italy is planning to negotiate surrender terms with the Allies in light of Mussolini’s fall from power
1947 – Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian-American bodybuilder, actor, and politician, 38th Governor of California was birthed.
1948 – Jean Reno, Moroccan-born French actor, Born
1950 – Frank Stallone, NYC, Sylvestor’s brother/actor (Barfly, Outlaw Force) Born
1953 – The FBI has seized 6 communist leaders from the city of Philadelphia on charges of teaching and advocating the overthrow of the government, this brings the total of those arrested for similar offenses around the nation to 87.
1955 – Rat Scabies, [Chris John Millar] English drummer and producer (The Damned and Vicious White Kids) was born.
1956 – A joint resolution of the U.S. Congress is signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, authorizing In God we trust as the U.S. national motto.
1956 – Anita Hill, professor of law, Clarence Thomas’ nemesis, Born
1958 – Kate Bush, Plumstead England, singer/songwriter (Wild Things)Born
1960 – Richard Linklater, American filmmaker, born
1962 – The Trans-Canada Highway, the largest national highway in the world, is officially opened.
1961 – Laurence Fishburne, American actor and producer was born.
1962 – Alton Brown, American chef, author, and producer was born.
1965 – The Social Security Act of 1965 was signed by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson which established the nation’s Medicare and Medicaid programs, financed by higher Social Security payroll taxes.
1965 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Social Security Act of 1965 into law, establishing Medicare and Medicaid.
1968 – Sean Moore, Welsh drummer (Manic Street Preachers) was born.
1968 – Beatles’ Apple Boutique closes, entire inventory is given away
1969 – Vietnam War: US President Richard Nixon makes an unscheduled visit to South Vietnam and meets with President Nguyen Van Thieu and U.S. military commanders.
1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 15 Mission – David Scott and James Irwin on the Apollo Lunar Module module Falcon land on the Moon with the first Lunar Rover.
1971 – George Harrison releases “Bangladesh” (later charged over $1 Million pounds in Tax)
1974 – Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon releases subpoenaed White House recordings after being ordered to do so by the Supreme Court of the United States.
1971 – Tom Green, Canadian comedian and actor, born
1975 – Jimmy Hoffa disappears from the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, at about 2:30 p.m. He is never seen or heard from again, and will be declared legally dead on this date in 1982.
1977 – Ian Watkins, Welsh singer-songwriter (Lostprophets and Public Disturbance) was born.
1977 – Jaime Pressly, American actress Born
1980 – Israel’s Knesset passes the Jerusalem Law
1988 – Jordanian King Hussein renounces sovereignity over West Bank to PLO / dissolves Jordan’s House of Representatives
1990 – Five Bank of Credit & Commerce (BCCI) members found guilty of money laundering
1990 – George Steinbrenner is forced by Commissioner Fay Vincent to resign as principal partner of NY Yankees
1992 – Joe Shuster, Canadian-American illustrator, co-created Superman (b. 1914) died.
1996 – Claudette Colbert, actress (Happened One Night), dies of stroke at 93
1998 – Buffalo Bob Smith, American television host (Howdy Doody) (b. 1917)Dies
2002 – The accounting law referred to as “The Sarbanes Oxley Act” is signed into law by President George W. Bush
(introduced major changes to the regulation of corporate governance and financial practice. It is named after Senator Paul Sarbanes and Representative Michael Oxley, who were its main architects, and it set a number of non-negotiable deadlines for compliance.)
2006 – The world’s longest running music show Top of the Pops is broadcast for the last time on BBC Two. The show had aired for 42 years.
2007 – Bill Walsh, American football coach, dies of leukemia at 75
2007 – Ingmar Bergman, Swedish stage and film director (b. 1918)