1608: English poet John Milton was born in London.
1625: The Treaty of the Hague was signed by England and the Netherlands. The agreement was to subsidize Christian IV of Denmark in his campaign in Germany.
1783: The first executions at Newgate Prison took place.
1793: "The American Minerva" was published for the first time. It was the first daily newspaper in New York City and was founded by Noah Webster.
1803: The 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed by the U.S. Congress. With the amendment Electors were directed to vote for a President and for a Vice-President rather than for two choices for President.
1848: American author and creator of "Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit," Joel Chandler Harris was born.
1854: Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem, "The Charge of the Light Brigade," was published in England.
1879: Thomas Edison organized the Edison Ore Milling Company.
1884: Levant M. Richardson received a patent for the ball-bearing roller skate.
1892: In London, "Widowers' Houses," George Bernard Shaw's first play, opened at the Royalty Theater.
1907: Christmas Seals went on sale for the first time, in the Wilmington, DE, post office.
1926: The United States Golf Association legalized the use of steel-shafted golf clubs.
1914: The Edison Phonograph Works was destroyed by fire.
1917: Turkish troops surrendered Jerusalem to British troops led by Viscount Allenby.
1940: During World War II, British troops opened their first major offensive in North Africa.
1940: The Longines Watch Company signed for the first FM radio advertising contract with experimental station W2XOR in New York City.
1941: China declared war on Japan, Germany and Italy.
1942: The Aram Khachaturian ballet "Gayane" was first performed by the Kirov Ballet.
1955: Sugar Ray Robinson knocked out Carl Olson and regained his world middleweight boxing title.
1958: In Indianapolis, IN, Robert H.W. Welch Jr. and 11 other men met to form the anti-Communist John Birch Society.
1960: Sperry Rand Corporation unveiled a new computer, known as "Univac 1107."
1960: The first episode of "Coronation Street" was screened on ITV.
1962: "Lawrence of Arabia," by David Lean had its world premiere in London.
1965: Nikolai V. Podgorny replaced Anastas I. Mikoyan as president of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet.
1975: U.S. President Gerald R. Ford signed a $2.3 billion seasonal loan authorization to prevent New York City from having to default.
1978: The first game of the Women's Pro Basketball League (WBL) was played between the Chicago Hustle and the Milwaukee Does.
1983: NATO foreign ministers called on the Soviet Union to join in a "comprehensive political dialogue" to ease tensions in the world.
1984: Iranian security men seized control of the plane ending a five-day hijacking of a Kuwaiti jetliner, which was parked at the Tehran airport.
1985: In Argentina, five former military junta members received sentences in prison for their roles in the "dirty war" in which nearly 9,000 people had "disappeared."
1987: West Bank Palestinians launched an intifada (uprising) against Israeli occupation.
1987: In the Gaza Strip, an Israeli patrol attacked the Jabliya refugee camp.
1990: Lech Walesa won Poland's first direct presidential election in the country's history.
1990: Slobodan Milosovic was elected president in Serbia's first free elections in 50 years.
1990: The first American hostages to be released by Iraq began arriving in the U.S.
1991: European Community leaders agreed to begin using a single currency in 1999.
1992: Britain's Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced their separation.
1992: Clair George, former CIA spy chief, was convicted of lying to the U.S. Congress about the Iran-Contra affair. U.S. President George H.W. Bush later pardoned George.
1992: U.S. troops arrived in Mogadishu, Somalia, to oversee delivery of international food aid, in operation 'Restore Hope'.
1993: The U.S. Air Force destroyed the first of 500 Minuteman II missile silos that were marked for elimination under an arms control treaty.
1993: Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Endeavor completed repairs to the Hubble Space Telescope.
1993: At Princeton University in New Jersey, scientists produced a controlled fusion reaction equivalent to 3 million watts.
1994: Representatives of the Irish Republican Army and the British government opened peace talks in Northern Ireland.
1994: U.S. President Clinton fired Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders after learning that she had told a conference that masturbation should be discussed in school as a part of human sexuality.
1996: UN Secretary General Boutros-Ghali approved a deal allowing Iraq to resume its exports of oil and easing the UN trade embargo imposed on Iraq in 1990.
1999: The U.S. announced that it was expelling a Russian diplomat that had been caught gathering information with an eavesdropping device at the U.S. State Department.
2002: United Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after losing $4 billion in the previos two years. It was the sixth largest bankruptcy filing.
2003: In Australia, thieves broke into a home and stole two 300-year-old etchings by Rembrandt. The 4-by-4-inch etchings, a self-portait and a depiction of the artist's mother, were valued around $518,000.
