337 – Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans succeed their father Constantine I as co-emperors. The Roman Empire is divided between the three Augusti.
533 – A Byzantine army of 15,000 men under Belisarius lands at Caput Vada (modern Tunisia) and marches to Carthage.
1000 – Battle of Svolder, Viking Age.
1087 – William Rufus becomes King of England, taking the title William II, (reigned until 1100).
1141 – Yelü Dashi, the Liao dynasty general who founded the Qara Khitai, defeats the Seljuq and Kara-Khanid forces at the Battle of Qatwan.
1379 – Treaty of Neuberg, splitting the Austrian Habsburg lands between the Habsburg dukes Albert III and Leopold III.
1488 – Anne becomes sovereign Duchess of Brittany, becoming a central figure in the struggle for influence that leads to the union of Brittany and France.
1493 – Battle of Krbava Field, a decisive defeat of Croats in Croatian struggle against the invasion by the Ottoman Empire.
1513 – James IV of Scotland is defeated and dies in the Battle of Flodden, ending Scotland’s involvement in the War of the League of Cambrai.
1543 – Mary Stuart, at nine months old, is crowned “Queen of Scots” in the central Scottish town of Stirling.
1776 – The Continental Congress officially names its new union of sovereign states the United States.
1791 – Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, is named after President George Washington.
1801 – Alexander I of Russia confirms the privileges of Baltic provinces.
1855 – Crimean War: The Siege of Sevastopol comes to an end when Russian forces abandon the city.
1863 – American Civil War: The Union Army enters Chattanooga, Tennessee.
1892 – Amalthea, third moon of Jupiter is discovered by Edward Emerson Barnard.
1914 – World War I: The creation of the Canadian Automobile Machine Gun Brigade, the first fully mechanized unit in the British Army.
1922 – The Greco-Turkish War effectively ends with Turkish victory over the Greeks in Smyrna.
1923 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, founds the Republican People’s Party.
1926 – In the United States the National Broadcasting Company is formed.
1936 – The crews of Portuguese Navy frigate NRP Afonso de Albuquerque and destroyer Dão mutinied against Salazar dictatorship’s support of General Franco’s coup and declared their solidarity with the Spanish Republic.
1939 – World War II: The Battle of Hel begins, the longest-defended pocket of Polish Army resistance during the German invasion of Poland.
1939 – Burmese national hero U Ottama dies in prison after a hunger strike to protest Britain’s colonial government.
1940 – George Stibitz pioneers the first remote operation of a computer.
1940 – Treznea massacre: The Hungarian Army, supported by local Hungarians kill 93 Romanian civilians in Treznea, a village in Northern Transylvania, as part of ethnic cleansing.
1942 – World War II: A Japanese floatplane drops incendiary bombs on Oregon.
1943 – World War II: The Allies land at Salerno and Taranto, Italy.
1944 – World War II: The Fatherland Front takes power in Bulgaria through a military coup in the capital and armed rebellion in the country. A new pro-Soviet government is established.
1945 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The Empire of Japan formally surrenders to China.
1948 – Kim Il-sung declares the establishment of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
1969 – Allegheny Airlines Flight 853 DC-9 collides in flight with a Piper PA-28 and crashes near Fairland, Indiana.
1969 – In Canada, the Official Languages Act comes into force, making French equal to English throughout the Federal government.
1970 – A British airliner is hijacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and flown to Dawson’s Field in Jordan.
1986 – India national cricket team plays their last ODI Cricket match in Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium during Australia tour.
1991 – Tajikistan declares independence from the Soviet Union.
1993 – The Palestine Liberation Organization officially recognizes Israel as a legitimate state.
1999 – Sega releases the first 128-bit video game console, the Dreamcast.
2001 – Ahmad Shah Massoud, leader of the Northern Alliance, is assassinated in Afghanistan by two al-Qaeda assassins who claimed to be Arab journalists wanting an interview.
2001 – Pärnu methanol tragedy occurs in Pärnu County, Estonia.
2012 – The Indian space agency puts into orbit its heaviest foreign satellite yet, in a streak of 21 consecutive successful PLSV launches.
2015 – Elizabeth II became the longest reigning monarch of the United Kingdom.