EVENTS
- 1823 – Simon Bolivar is named President of Peru.
- 1846 – Elias Howe patents the sewing machine.
- 1913 – The US opens its first paved coast-to-coast highway
- 1919 – Following the defeat of Germany in World War I, the victorious Allies signed the Treaty of Saint-Germain ceding parts of pre-war German-Austria to Italy and Czechoslovakia. Austria was also forbidden to unite with Germany.
- 1943 – Hitler’s troops occupied Rome and took over the protection of Vatican City.
- 1960 – Baghdad Conference begins. The 5-day long conference in Iraq’s capital city ended with the creation of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), an intergovernmental organization of oil-producing countries. Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela were the original members of the group. Today, there are 13 members of the organization. OPEC is responsible for coordinating and unifying oil and gas policies in member states and for creating an efficient and fair system of production, sale, and investment in the petroleum industry.
- 1972 – Russia hands the United States its first Olympic basketball game loss.
- 1977 – Last person to be executed in France. Hamida Djandoubi was also the last person to be executed by a guillotine. Djandoubi was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of 21-year old Elisabeth Bousquet.
- 1993 – The X-Files airs its first episode.
- 2008 – Large Hadron Collider goes live. The world’s largest particle collider, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). It is an 18-mile (27km) long experimental machine which passes through the French-Swiss border. The Collider was constructed to find the Higgs Boson particle, an elementary particle in physics.
- 2014 – First Invictus Games held. The international games bring together wounded armed forces personnel and veterans who compete in athletic competitions. The 2014 Invictus Games were held at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, England. 300 competitors from 13 countries participated in the games. The next games will take place in 2016.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1385 – Le Loi (Emperor of Vietnam)
- 1839 – Charles Sanders Peirce (American philosopher, mathematician, scientist)
- 1872 – Ranjitsinhji (Indian cricketer)
- 1918 – Rin Tin Tin (Famous German Shepherd dog)
- 1929 – Arnold Palmer (Golfer)
- 1934 – Roger Maris (Baseball player)
- 1941 – Stephen Jay Gould (American paleontologist)
- 1950 – Joe Perry (Guitarist for Aerosmith)
- 1953 – Amy Irving (Actress)
- 1960 – Colin Firth (English actor)
- 1963 – Randy Johnson (Baseball Pitcher)
- 1968 – Guy Ritchie (Director)
- 1974 – Ryan Phillipe (Actor)
- 1976 – Matt Morgan (American wrestler, actor)
DEATHS
- 1669 – Henrietta Maria of France
- 1797 – Mary Wollstonecraft (English author, philosopher)
- 1898 – Empress Elisabeth of Austria
- 1935 – Huey Long ( American politician)
- 1985 – Jock Stein (Scottish footballer, manager)