1609 – The Catholic states in Germany set up a league under the leadership of Maximillian of Bavaria.
1679 – The British crown claimed New Hampshire as a royal colony.
1776 – The statue of King George III was pulled down in New York City.
1778 – In support of the American Revolution, Louis XVI declared war on England.
1821 – U.S. troops took possession of Florida. The territory was sold by Spain.
1910 – W.R. Brookins became the first to fly an airplane at an altitude of one mile.
1919 – The Treaty of Versailles was hand delivered to the U.S. Senate by President Wilson.
1925 – The official news agency of the Soviet Union, TASS, was established.
1938 – Howard Hughes completed a 91 hour flight around the world.
1940 – The 114-day Battle of Britain began during World War II.
1947 – Saab introduced the Model 92 prototype as its first automobile.
1951 – Armistice talks aimed at ending the Korean conflict began at Kaesong.
1953 – American forces withdraw from Pork Chop Hill in Korea after heavy fighting.
1973 – Britain granted the Bahamas their independence after three centuries of British colonial rule.
1991 – Boris Yeltsin took the oath of office as the first elected president of the Russian republic.
1991 – U.S. President Bush lifted economic sanctions against South Africa, citing its “profound transformation” toward racial equality.
1999 – The heads of six African nations that had troops in the Democratic Republic of the Congo signed a cease-fire agreement that would end the civil war in that nation.
2000 – EADS, the world’s second-largest aerospace group is formed by the merger of Aérospatiale-Matra, DASA, and CASA.
2011 – Russian cruise ship Bulgaria sunk in Volga near Syukeyevo, Tatarstan, leading to 122 deaths.