Events

• 1400 – Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers.
• 1620 – Pilgrims set sail from England on the Mayflower.
• 1701 – James Francis Edward Stuart, sometimes called the “Old Pretender”, becomes the Jacobite claimant to the thrones of England and Scotland.
• 1732 – In Campo Maior, Portugal, a storm hits the Armoury and a violent explosion ensues, killing two thirds of its inhabitants.
• 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Harlem Heights is fought.
• 1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Franco-American Siege of Savannah begins.
• 1810 – With the Grito de Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo begins Mexico’s fight for independence from Spain.
• 1893 – Settlers make a land run for prime land in the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma.
• 1914 – World War I: The Siege of Przemyśl (present-day Poland) begins.
• 1940 – World War II: Italian troops conquer Sidi Barrani.
• 1943 – World War II: The German Tenth Army reports that it can no longer contain the Allied bridgehead around Salerno.
• 1945 – World War II: The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong comes to an end.
• 1955 – The military coup to unseat President Juan Perón of Argentina is launched at midnight.
• 1955 – A Zulu-class submarine becomes the first to launch a ballistic missile.
• 1959 – The first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, is introduced in a demonstration on live television from New York City.
• 1961 – The United States National Hurricane Research Project drops eight cylinders of silver iodide into the eyewall of Hurricane Esther. Wind speed reduces by 10%, giving rise to Project Stormfury.
• 1963 – Malaysia is formed from the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak. However, Singapore soon leaves this new country.
• 1970 – King Hussein of Jordan declares war against the Palestine Liberation Organisation, the conflict which became to be known as Black September.
• 1975 – Papua New Guinea gains independence from Australia.
  • Independence Day (Papua New Guinea), celebrates the independence of Papua New Guinea from Australia in 1975.
• 1975 – The first prototype of the Mikoyan MiG-31 interceptor makes its maiden flight.
• 1982 – Lebanon War: The Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon takes place.
• 1992 – The trial of the deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega ends in the United States with a 40-year sentence for drug trafficking and money laundering.
• 1994 – The British government lifts the broadcasting ban imposed against members of Sinn Féin and Irish paramilitary groups in 1988.
• 2014 – The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant launches its Kobani offensive against Syrian–Kurdish forces.
• Malaysian Armed Forces Day (Malaysia).
• Cry of Dolores, celebrates the declaration of independence of Mexico from Spain in 1810.

People (Births)

• 1722 – Gabriel Christie, Scottish-Canadian general (d. 1799).
• 1745 – Mikhail Kutuzov, Russian field marshal (d. 1813).
• 1859 – Yuan Shikai, Chinese general and politician, President of the Republic of China (d. 1916).
• 1891 – Karl Dönitz, German admiral and politician, President of Germany (d. 1980).
• 1906 – Jack Churchill, Sri Lankan-English colonel (d. 1996).
• 1910 – Erich Kempka, German colonel and chauffeur (d. 1975).
• 1920 – Staryl C. Austin, American air force general (d. 2015).
• 1977 – Gregory Ball, American captain and politician.

People (Deaths)

• 1736 – Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, Polish-Dutch physicist and engineer, invented the thermometer (b. 1686).
• 1865 – Christian de Meza, Danish general (b. 1792).
• 1987 – Christopher Soames, English soldier and politician, Governor of Southern Rhodesia (b. 1920).
• 2005 – Gordon Gould, American physicist and academic, invented the laser (b. 1920).
• 2012 – Julien J. LeBourgeois, American admiral (b. 1923).
• 2015 – Allan Wright, English captain and pilot (b. 1920).
• 2017 – Arjan Singh, Marshal of the Indian Air Force (b. 1919).
• 2018 – James Burdette Thayer, American brigadier general (b. 1920).