626

Incident at Xuanwu Gate: in fear of assassination, Li Shimin ambushes and kills his rival brothers Li Yuanji and Li Jiancheng.

1644

At the Battle of Marston Moor, Parliamentary forces handed the Royalists their first major defeat in the English Civil Wars.

1776

After a dramatic all-night ride, Delaware delegate Caesar Rodney arrived just in time to cast the decisive vote approving the Declaration of Independence.

1809

Chief Tecumseh urges Native Americans to unite against white settlers.

1822

Denmark Vesey was hanged in Charleston, South Carolina, for planning the most extensive slave revolt in U.S. history.

1823

Bahia Independence Day: the end of Portuguese rule in Brazil, with the final defeat of the Portuguese crown loyalists in the province of Bahia.

1839

A slave rebellion occurred on the ship Amistad, and in their trial the following year the mutineers, who were deemed to be kidnap victims rather than merchandise, were acquitted—a victory for American abolitionism.

1881

President James A. Garfield shot.

1900

The first flight of a zeppelin took place as the airship departed a floating hangar on Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen, Germany.

1917

Greece declares war on Central Powers.

1932

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt coined the term “New Deal” in his acceptance speech for the Democratic presidential nomination.

1937

The airplane piloted by American aviator Amelia Earhart disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean during her attempt to fly around the world.

1941

Noël Coward’s “Blithe Spirit” premieres in London.

1962

American businessman Sam Walton opened the first Walmart (then known as Wal-Mart) store, in Rogers, Arkansas; it was the start of what would become the largest retail sales chain in the United States.

1964

On this day in 1964, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, perhaps the most important U.S. law on civil rights since Reconstruction (1865–77) and a hallmark of the American civil rights movement.

1972

American pole vaulter Bob Seagren breaks world record for the 4th and final time with 5.63m in Eugene, Oregon.

1979

The United States first issued the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin, making Anthony the first woman to be depicted on U.S. currency.

1990

1,426 pilgrims trampled to death after a panic in a tunnel in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

1997

“Men in Black” premieres in theaters.

2002

American adventurer Steve Fossett became the first balloonist to circumnavigate the world alone.

2008

More than six years after being taken hostage by FARC guerrillas, Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt was freed during a rescue mission in which army soldiers posed as international aid workers.