585 BC: The first known prediction of a solar eclipse was made in Greece.
1085: Alfonso VI took Toledo, Spain from the Moslems.
1787: The Constitutional convention opened in Philadelphia with George Washington presiding.
1810: Argentina declared independence from Napoleonic Spain.
1844: The gasoline engine was patented by Stuart Perry.
1844: The first telegraphed news dispatch, sent from Washington, DC, to Baltimore, MD, appeared in the Baltimore "Patriot."
1895: Oscar Wilde, a playwright, poet and novelist, was convicted of a morals charge and sentenced to prison in London.
1895: James P. Lee first published "Gold in America:- A Practical Manual."
1911: President of Mexico, Porfolio Diaz, resigned his office.
1925: John Scopes was indicted for teaching the Darwinian theory in school.
1927: Ford Motor Company announced that the Model A would replace the Model T.
1927: The "Movietone News" was shown for the first time at the Sam Harris Theatre in New York City.
1935: Babe Ruth hit his final homerun, his 714th, and set a record that would stand for 39 years.
1935: Jesse Owens tied the world record for the 100-yard dash. He ran it in 9.4 seconds. He also broke three other world track records.
1946: Jordan gained independence from Britain.
1953: In Nevada, the first atomic cannon was fired.
1961: America was asked by U.S. President Kennedy to work toward putting a man on the moon before the end of the decade.
1963: The Organization of African Unity was founded, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
1968: The Gateway Arch, part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, MO, was dedicated.
1970: Boeing Computer Services was founded.
1977: "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope" opened and became the largest grossing film to date.
1977: An opinion piece by Vietnam verteran Jan Scruggs appeared in "The Washington Post." The article called for a national memorial to "remind an ungrateful nation of what it has done to its sons" that had served in the Vietnam War.
1979: An American Airlines DC-10 crashed during takeoff at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. 275 people were killed.
1981: Daredevil Daniel Goodwin scaled Chicago's Sears Tower, while wearing a "Spiderman" costume, in 7 1/2 hours.
1983: "The Return of the Jedi" opened nationwide. It set a new record in opening day box office sales. The gross was $6,219,629.
1985: Bangladesh was hit with a hurricane and tidal wave that killed more than 11,000 people.
1986: Approximately 7 million Americans participated in "Hands Across America."
1989: The Calgary Flames won their first NHL Stanley Cup by defeating the Montreal Canadiens.
1992: Jay Leno debuted as the new permanent host of NBC's "Tonight Show."
1996: In Nimes, France, Christina Sanchez became the first woman to achieve the rank of matadore in Europe.
1997: In Sierra Leone a military coup overthrew the popularly elected President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. He was replaced with Major Johnny Paul Koromah.
1997: U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond became the longest-serving senator in U.S. history (41 years and 10 months).
1997: Poland adopted a constitution that removed all traces of communism.
1999: A report by the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China concluded that China had "stolen design information on the U.S. most-advanced thermonuclear weapons" and that China's penetration of U.S. weapons laboratories "spans at least the past several decades and almost certainly continues today."
2000: The Walt Disney Co. and Time Warner Inc. signed a long-term deal that ended a dispute over the airing policies of Time Warner. Time Warner had blacked out Disney programs for a 39 hour period the previous month due to the lack of an agreement.
Disney movies, music and books
2001: Erik Weihenmeyer, 32, of Golder, CO, became the first blind climber to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
2001: Sherman Bull, 64, of New Canaan, CT, became the oldest climber to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
2008: NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander landed in the arctic plains of Mars.
2009: North Korea announced that it had conducted a second successful nuclear test in the province of North Hamgyong. The United Nations Security Council condemned the reported test.