0064 – The Great Fire of Rome began.
1536 – The authority of the pope was declared void in England.
1743 – “The New York Weekly Journal” published the first half-page newspaper ad.
1789 – Robespierre, a deputy from Arras, France, decided to back the French Revolution.
1812 – Great Britain signed the Treaty of Orebro, making peace with Russia and Sweden.
1830 – Uruguay adopted a liberal constitution.
1872 – The Ballot Act was passed in Great Britain, providing for secret election ballots.
1914 – Six planes of the U.S. Army helped to form an aviation division called the Signal Corps.
1932 – The U.S. and Canada signed a treaty to develop the St. Lawrence Seaway.
1935 – Ethiopian King Haile Selassie urged his countrymen to fight to the last man against the invading Italian army.
1936 – The Spanish Civil War began as Gen. Francisco Franco led an uprising of army troops based in Spanish North Africa.
1942 – The German Me-262, the first jet-propelled aircraft to fly in combat, made its first flight.
1944 – U.S. troops captured Saint-Lo, France, ending the battle of the hedgerows.
1944 – Hideki Tojo was removed as Japanese premier and war minister due to setbacks suffered by his country in World War II.
1971 – New Zealand and Australia announced they would pull their troops out of Vietnam.
1994 – The bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (Argentine Jewish Community Center) in Buenos Aires kills 85 people (mostly Jewish) and injures 300.
1994 – Rwandan Genocide: The Rwandan Patriotic Front takes control of Gisenyi and north western Rwanda, forcing the interim government into Zaire and ending the genocide.
1996 – Battle of Mullaitivu: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam capture the Sri Lanka Army’s base, killing over 1200 soldiers.
2012 – At least seven people are killed and 32 others are injured after a bomb explodes on an Israeli tour bus at Burgas Airport, Bulgaria.
2013 – The Government of Detroit, with up to $20 billion in debt, files for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
