1740 – Maria Theresa takes the throne of Austria. France, Prussia, Bavaria and Saxonyrefuse to honour the Pragmatic Sanction and the War of the Austrian Succession begins.
1781 – The Patent of Toleration, providing limited freedom of worship, is approved in Habsburg Monarchy.
1818 – The Convention of 1818 is signed between the United States and the United Kingdom, which settles the Canada–United States border on the 49th parallel for most of its length.
1827 – In the Battle of Navarino, a combined Turkish and Egyptian fleet is defeated by British, French, and Russiannaval forces in the last significant battle fought with wooden sailing ships.
1904 – Chile and Bolivia sign the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, delimiting the border between the two countries.
1910 – The hull of the RMS Olympic, sister-ship to the ill-fated RMS Titanic, is launched from the Harland and Wolffshipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
1935 – The Long March, a mammoth retreat undertaken by the armed forces of the Chinese Communist Party a year prior, ends.
1941 – World War II: Thousands of civilians in Kragujevac in German-occupied Serbia are murdered in the Kragujevac massacre.
1944 – The Soviet Army and Yugoslav Partisans liberate Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia
1944 – American general Douglas MacArthur fulfills his promise to return to the Philippines when he commands an Allied assault on the islands, reclaiming them from the Japanese during the Second World War.
1947 – The House Un-American Activities Committee begins its investigation into Communist infiltration of Hollywood, resulting in a blacklist that prevents some from working in the industry for years.
1947 – The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan establish diplomatic relations for the first time.
1952 – Governor Evelyn Baring declares a state of emergency in Kenya and begins arresting hundreds of suspected leaders of the Mau Mau Uprising, including Jomo Kenyatta, the future first President of Kenya.
1961 – The Soviet Union performs the first armed test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, launching an R-13 from a Golf-class submarine.
1962 – People’s Republic of China launches simultaneous offensives in Ladakh and across the McMahon Line, igniting the Sino-Indian War.
1968 – Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy marries Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.
1973 – “Saturday Night Massacre”: United States President Richard Nixon fires U.S. Attorney General Elliot Richardsonand Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus after they refuse to fire Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who is finally fired by Robert Bork.
1977 – Rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd’s plane crashes.
1991 – A 6.8 Mw earthquake strikes the Uttarkashi region of India, killing more than 1,000 people.
2011 – Libyan Civil War: National Transitional Council rebel forces capture ousted Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in his hometown of Sirte and kill him shortly thereafter.