Events

• 1575 – Mughal Emperor Akbar defeats Sultan of Bengal Daud Khan Karrani’s army at the Battle of Tukaroi.
• 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The first amphibious landing of the United States Marine Corps begins the Battle of Nassau.
• 1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Continental Army is routed at the Battle of Brier Creek near Savannah, Georgia.
• 1799 – The Russo-Ottoman siege of Corfu ends with the surrender of the French garrison.
• 1820 – The US Congress passes the Missouri Compromise.
• 1857 – Second Opium War: France and the United Kingdom declare war on China.
• 1878 – The Russo-Turkish War ends with Bulgaria regaining its independence from the Ottoman Empire according to the Treaty of San Stefano.
• 1918 – Russia signs the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, agreeing to withdraw from World War I, and conceding German control of the Baltic States, Belarus and Ukraine.
  • It also conceded Turkish control of Ardahan, Kars and Batumi.
• 1924 – The 407-year-old Islamic caliphate is abolished, when Caliph Abdülmecid II of the Ottoman Caliphate is deposed.
  • The last remnant of the old regime gives way to the reformed Turkey of Kemal Atatürk.
• 1924 – The Free State of Fiume is annexed by the Kingdom of Italy.
• 1938 – Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia.
• 1939 – In Bombay, Mohandas Gandhi begins a hunger strike in protest at the autocratic rule in British India.
• 1942 – World War II: Ten Japanese warplanes raid Broome, Western Australia, killing more than 100 people.
• 1943 – World War II: In London, 173 people are killed in a crush while trying to enter an air-raid shelter at Bethnal Green tube station.
• 1944 – The Order of Nakhimov and Order of Ushakov are instituted in USSR as the highest naval awards.
• 1945 – World War II: American and Filipino troops recapture Manila.
• 1945 – World War II: The RAF accidentally bombs the Bezuidenhout area of The Hague, Netherlands, killing 511 people.
• 1980 – The USS Nautilus is decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register.
• 1986 – The Australia Act 1986 commences, causing Australia to become fully independent from the United Kingdom.
• 2005 – James Roszko murders four Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) constables during a drug bust at his property in Rochfort Bridge, Alberta, then commits suicide.
  • This is the deadliest peace-time incident for the RCMP since 1885 and the North-West Rebellion.
• Liberation and Freedom Day (Charlottesville, Virginia, US).
• Liberation Day (Bulgaria).
• Martyr’s Day (Malawi): to honour the political heroes who gave their lives in the struggle against British colonialism.

People (Births)

• 1583 – Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury, English-Welsh soldier, historian, and diplomat (d. 1648).
• 1678 – Madeleine de Verchères, Canadian rebel leader (d. 1747).
• 1847 – Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-American engineer and academic, invented the telephone (d. 1922).
• 1871 – Maurice Garin, Italian-French cyclist (d. 1957).
• 1882 – Elisabeth Abegg, German anti-Nazi resistance fighter (d. 1974).
• 1895 – Matthew Ridgway, American general (d. 1993).
• 1903 – Vasily Kozlov, Belarusian general and politician (d. 1967).
• 1920 – James Doohan, Canadian-American actor and soldier (d. 2005).
• 1920 – Ronald Searle, English-French soldier and illustrator (d. 2011).
• 1924 – Tomiichi Murayama, Japanese soldier and politician, 52nd Prime Minister of Japan.
• 1963 – Martín Fiz, Spanish runner.
• 1983 – Sarah Poewe, South African swimmer.

People (Deaths)

• 1323 – Andrew Harclay, 1st Earl of Carlisle, English military leader.
• 1459 – Ausiàs March, Catalan knight and poet (b. 1397).
• 1792 – Robert Adam, Scottish-English architect and politician, designed the Culzean Castle (b. 1728).
• 2001 – Eugene Sledge, American soldier, author, and academic (b. 1923).
• 2014 – Robert Ashley, American soldier and composer (b. 1930).
• 2014 – William R. Pogue, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1930).
• 2016 – Sarah Tait, Australian Olympic rower (b. 1983).
• 2018 – Roger Bannister, English middle-distance athlete, first man to run a four-minute mile (b. 1929).