EVENTS
- 1498 – Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to visit Venezuela.
- 1774 – The element oxygen is discovered.
- 1831 – The London Bridge opens.
- 1834 – Slavery abolished in British Empire. The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 came into force a year after it was passed by the British Parliament. The act was repealed in 1998.
- 1838 – Slavery was abolished in Jamaica. It had been introduced by Spanish settlers 300 years earlier in 1509.
- 1936 – The XI Summer Olympics are opened in Berlin by Adolf Hitler. Initially, Jews and people of African descent were to be barred from the games, however, a boycott was threatened by several countries and the German organizers relented. 18 African-American athletes, including James “Jesse” Owens and Matthew “Mack” Robinson, placed well in the track and field events, winning several medals.
- 1944 – Anne Frank makes the final entry in her diary.
- 1951 – Japan Airlines (JAL) is founded. The flagship airlines of Japan, JAL started operating on October 25, 1951.
- 1961 – The first Six Flags park open in Texas.
- 1980 – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir takes office in Iceland. The Icelandic politician was the fourth president of Iceland and the world’s first democratically elected female head of state. Her 16 years of Presidency also makes her the longest serving female head of state in the world.
- 1981 – First broadcasts by MTV. The first video played was “Video Killed The Radio Star”.
BIRTHDAYS
- 10 BC – Claudius (Roman Emperor)
- 1770 – William Clark (Explorer with partner Lewis)
- 1779 – Francis Scott Key (Composer of the Star Spangled Banner)
- 1819 – Herman Melville (Author of Moby Dick)
Herman Melville - 1929 – Hafizullah Amin (Afghan politician)
- 1930 – Pierre Bourdieu (French sociologist)
- 1932 – Meena Kumari (Indian actress)
- 1933 – Dom DeLuise (Actor)
- 1942 – Jerry Garcia (Singer for the Grateful Dead)
- 1963 – Coolio (Rapper)
- 1973 – Tempestt Bledsoe (Actress from the Cosby Show)
DEATHS
- 1714 – Anne, Queen of Great Britain
Anne, Queen of Great Britain - 1920 – Bal Gangadhar Tilak (Indian lawyer, social reformer)
- 1944 – Manuel L. Quezon (Filipino politician, 2nd President of the Philippines)
- 1970 – Frances Farmer (American actress)
- 2009 – Corazon Aquino (Filipino politician, 11th President of the Philippines)
