| | 68 - Roman Emperor Nero commits suicide, imploring his secretary Epaphroditus to slit his throat to evade a Senate-imposed death by flogging. |
| | 1310 - Duccio's Maestà Altarpiece, a seminal artwork of the early Italian Renaissance, is unveiled and installed in the Siena Cathedral in Siena, Italy. |
| | 1534 - Jacques Cartier is the first European to discover the St. Lawrence River. |
| | 1732 - James Oglethorpe is granted a royal charter for the colony of Georgia. |
| | 1772 - British vessel Gaspee is burned off of Rhode Island. |
| | 1790 - Philadelphia Spelling Book by John Barry becomes the first book to be copyrighted in the United States. |
| | 1815 - End of the Congress of Vienna: new European political situation is set. |
| | 1856 - 500 Mormons leave Iowa City, Iowa and head west for Salt Lake City, Utah carrying all their possessions in two-wheeled handcarts. |
| | 1860 - Malaeska: The Indian Wife of the White Hunter becomes the first dime novel to be published. |
| | 1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Brandy Station, Virginia. |
| | 1909 - Alice Huyler Ramsey, a 22-year-old housewife and mother from Hackensack, New Jersey, became the first woman to drive across the United States. With three female companions, none of whom could drive a car, for fifty-nine days she drove a Maxwell automobile the 3,800 miles from Manhattan, New York, to San Francisco, California. |
| | 1915 - U.S. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan resigns over a disagreement regarding the United States' handling of the RMS Lusitania sinking. |
| | 1922 - First ringing of the Harkness Memorial Chime at Yale University. |
| | 1923 - Bulgaria's military takes over the government in a coup. |
| | 1930 - Chicago Tribune reporter Jake Lingle is killed at the Illinois Central train station during rush hour by the Leo Vincent Brothers, allegedly over a 100,000 USD gambling debt owed to Al Capone. |
| | 1934 - Donald Duck debuts in The Wise Little Hen. |
| | 1935 - Ho-Umezu Agreement: the Republic of China, under KMT administration, recognized Japanese occupations in Northeast China. |
| | 1944 - World War II: The Soviet Union invades East Karelia and the previously Finnish part of Karelia, since 1941 occupied by Finland. |
| | 1946 - King Bhumibol Adulyadej ascends to the throne of Thailand. He is currently the world's longest reigning monarch. |
| | 1953 - Flint-Worcester Tornadoes: A tornado spawned from the same storm system as the Flint tornado hits in Worcester, Massachusetts killing 94. |
| | 1954 - McCarthyism: Joseph Welch, special counsel for the United States Army, lashes out at Senator Joseph McCarthy during hearings on whether Communism has infiltrated the Army. |
| | 1957 - First ascent of Broad Peak (12th highest mountain). |
| | 1959 - The USS George Washington is launched as the first submarine to carry ballistic missiles. |
| | 1967 - Israel captures the Golan Heights from Syria during the Six-Day War. |
| | 1968 - President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a national day of mourning following the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy. |
| | 1973 - Secretariat wins the Triple Crown. |
| | 1978 - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opens the priesthood to "all worthy men", ending a 148-year-old policy excluding black men. |
| | 1983 - Margaret Thatcher wins a second term by a landslide in the British General Election with a majority of 144 for her Conservative Party. Tony Blair is elected for the first time to Parliament. |
| | 1985 - Thomas Sutherland is kidnapped in Lebanon (he was not released until 1991). |
| | 1986 - The Rogers Commission releases its report on the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. |
| | 1991 - The congress of the Italian party Proletarian Democracy decides to merge with the Communist Refoundation Party. |
| | 1999 - Kosovo War: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and North Atlantic Treaty Organization sign a peace treaty. |