Events

• 1 BC – Wang Mang consolidates his power and is declared marshal of state. Emperor Ai of Han, who had died the previous day, had no heirs.
• 942 – Start of the four-day Battle of al-Mada’in, between the Hamdanids of Mosul and the Baridis of Basra over control of the Abbasid capital, Baghdad.
• 1328 – The House of Gonzaga seizes power in the Duchy of Mantua, and will rule until 1708.
• 1513 – Battle of the Spurs (Battle of Guinegate): King Henry VIII of England and his Imperial allies defeat French Forces who are then forced to retreat.
• 1570 – The Principality of Transylvania is established after John II Zápolya renounces his claim as King of Hungary in the Treaty of Speyer.
• 1652 – Battle of Plymouth: Inconclusive naval action between the fleets of Michiel de Ruyter and George Ayscue in the First Anglo-Dutch War.
• 1777 – American Revolutionary War: The Americans led by General John Stark rout British and Brunswick troops under Friedrich Baum at the Battle of Bennington in Walloomsac, New York.
• 1780 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Camden: The British defeat the Americans near Camden, South Carolina.
• 1792 – Maximilien de Robespierre presents the petition of the Commune of Paris to the Legislative Assembly, which demanded the formation of a revolutionary tribunal.
• 1793 – French Revolution: A levée en masse is decreed by the National Convention.
• 1812 – War of 1812: American General William Hull surrenders Fort Detroit without a fight to the British Army.
• 1819 – Peterloo Massacre: Seventeen people die and over 600 are injured in cavalry charges at a public meeting at St. Peter’s Field, Manchester, England.
• 1863 – The Dominican Restoration War begins when Gregorio Luperón raises the Dominican flag in Santo Domingo after Spain had recolonised the country.
• 1869 – Battle of Acosta Ñu: A Paraguayan battalion made up of children is massacred by the Brazilian Army during the Paraguayan War.
• 1870 – Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Mars-la-Tour is fought, resulting in a Prussian victory.
• 1900 – The Battle of Elands River during the Second Boer War ends after a 13-day siege is lifted by the British.
  • The battle had begun when a force of between 2,000 and 3,000 Boers had surrounded a force of 500 Australians, Rhodesians, Canadians and British soldiers at a supply dump at Brakfontein Drift.
• 1913 – Completion of the Royal Navy battlecruiser HMS Queen Mary.
• 1918 – The Battle of Lake Baikal was fought between the Czechoslovak Legion and the Red Army.
• 1920 – The congress of the Communist Party of Bukhara opens. The congress would call for armed revolution.
• 1920 – Polish–Soviet War: The Battle of Radzymin concludes; the Soviet Red Army is forced to turn away from Warsaw.
• 1942 – World War II: A naval L-class blimp drifts in from the Pacific and eventually crashes in Daly City, California. The two-man crew cannot be found.
• 1944 – First flight of a jet with forward-swept wings, the Junkers Ju 287.
• 1960 – Cyprus gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
• 1964 – Vietnam War: A coup d’état replaces Dương Văn Minh with General Nguyễn Khánh as President of South Vietnam. A new constitution is established with aid from the US Embassy.
• 1966 – Vietnam War: The House Un-American Activities Committee begins investigations of Americans who have aided the Viet Cong.
  • The committee intends to introduce legislation making these activities illegal.
  • Anti-war demonstrators disrupt the meeting and 50 people are arrested.
• 1972 – In an unsuccessful coup d’état attempt, the Royal Moroccan Air Force fires upon Hassan II of Morocco’s plane while he is traveling back to Rabat.
• 2015 – More than 96 people are killed and hundreds injured following a series of air-raids by the Syrian Arab Air Force on the rebel-held market town of Douma.
• Bennington Battle Day (Vermont, United States).
• National Airborne Day (United States).

People (Births)

• 1848 – Vladimir Sukhomlinov, Russian general (d. 1926).
• 1856 – Aparicio Saravia, Uruguayan general and politician (d. 1904).
• 1882 – Désiré Mérchez, French swimmer and water polo player (d. 1968).
• 1904 – Minoru Genda, Japanese general, pilot, and politician (d. 1989).
• 1919 – Karl-Heinz Euling, German captain (d. 2014).
• 1933 – Stuart Roosa, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1994).
• 1950 – Hasely Crawford, Trinidadian runner.
• 1956 – Vahan Hovhannisyan, Armenian soldier and politician (d. 2014).
• 1959 – Marc Sergeant, Belgian cyclist and manager.
• 1974 – Krisztina Egerszegi, Hungarian swimmer.
• 1975 – Álvaro Tardáguila, Uruguayan cyclist.
• 1980 – Piet Rooijakkers, Dutch cyclist.
• 1996 – Caeleb Dressel, American swimmer.

People (Deaths)

• 963 – Marianos Argyros, Byzantine general (b. 944).
• 1153 – Bernard de Tremelay, fourth Grand Master of the Knights Templar.
• 1443 – Ashikaga Yoshikatsu, Japanese shōgun (b. 1434).
• 1791 – Charles-François de Broglie, marquis de Ruffec, French soldier and diplomat (b. 1719).
• 1888 – John Pemberton, American pharmacist and chemist, invented Coca-Cola (b. 1831).
• 1904 – Prentiss Ingraham, American soldier and author (b. 1843).
• 1945 – Takijirō Ōnishi, Japanese admiral (b. 1891).
• 1959 – William Halsey, Jr., American admiral (b. 1882).
• 1978 – Alidius Tjarda van Starkenborgh Stachouwer, Dutch soldier and politician, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (b. 1888).
• 2003 – Idi Amin, Ugandan field marshal and politician, 3rd President of Uganda (b. 1928).
• 2006 – Alfredo Stroessner, Paraguayan general and dictator; 46th President of Paraguay (b. 1912).
• 2010 – Dimitrios Ioannidis, Greek general (b. 1923).
• 2014 – Patrick Aziza, Nigerian general and politician, Governor of Kebbi State (b. 1947).
• 2015 – Shuja Khanzada, Pakistani colonel and politician (b. 1943).
• 2015 – Mile Mrkšić, Serb general (b. 1947).