1215

Frederick II crowned King of the Romans (King of the Germans) in Aachen.

1579

Francis Drake departs San Francisco to cross the Pacific Ocean.

1777

American Revolution: Louis XVI of France and his Foreign Minister clandestinely agree to supply the US with munitions.

1798

Napoleon Bonaparte captures Alexandria, Egypt.

1829

William Austin Burt patents America’s first “typographer” (typewriter).

1840

Union Act passed by British Parliament, uniting Upper & Lower Canada.

1844

Attilio and Emilio Bandiera were executed along with nine others following a failed revolt against Austrian rule in Italy.

1885

U.S. General Ulysses S. Grant, who commanded the Union armies to victory in the American Civil War and later served as the 18th president of the United States, died at the age of 63.

1903

Ford Motor Company sold its first automobile, a Ford Model A; five years later it introduced the hugely influential Model T.

1914

Nearly one month after the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife by a young Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Baron Giesl von Gieslingen, ambassador of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to Serbia, delivers an ultimatum to the Serbian foreign ministry.

1918

Della Sorenson kills the first of her seven victims in rural Nebraska by poisoning her sister-in-law’s infant daughter, Viola Cooper.

1944

Conference of Bretton Woods signed; IMF operations begin.

1945

Marshal Philippe Pétain of France went on trial for treason during World War II; he ultimately was given a life sentence of solitary confinement.

1952

The Free Officers, a nationalistic military group led by Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser, engineered a coup that overthrew King Farouk I of Egypt, ending the monarchy and bringing Nasser to power.

1966

Frank Sinatra’s album “Strangers In The Night” hits #1 on the US charts, (Grammy for Record Of The Year and Best Male Vocal Performance).

1970

Sultan Saʿīd ibn Taymūr of Oman was overthrown by his son, Qaboos bin Said, in a palace coup.

1988

Guns N’ Roses make popular breakthrough with “Sweet Child O’ Mine”.

1996

U.S. women take home gymnastics gold.

1997

Slobodan Milošević became president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (comprising Serbia and Montenegro) after serving as president of Serbia from 1989; he was later charged with genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes relating to the Kosovo conflict, and he died during his trial in 2006.

1995

Comet Hale-Bopp is discovered and becomes visible to the naked eye nearly a year later.

1999

With the launch of NASA’s orbiter Columbia, U.S. astronaut Eileen Collins became the first woman to command a space shuttle mission.

2000

British Open Men’s Golf, Royal Lytham & St. Annes: Tiger Woods beats Thomas Bjørn and Ernie Els by 8 shots to win his first Open title; becomes youngest player at 24 to win all 4 major titles.

2010

One Direction is formed during the X Factor show as Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson join together.

2012

U.S. astronaut Sally Ride, the first American woman to travel in space, died at the age of 61.