328 – The official opening of Constantine’s Bridge built over the Danube by the Roman architect Theophilus Patricius
1687 – Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.
1811 – Venezuela declares independence from Spain.
1915 – The Liberty Bell leaves Philadelphia by special train on its way to the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. This is the last trip outside Philadelphia that the custodians of the bell intend to permit.
1934 – “Bloody Thursday” Police open fire on striking longshoremen in San Francisco.
1937 – Spam, the luncheon meat, is introduced into the market by the Hormel Foods Corporation.
1946 – The bikini goes on sale after debuting during an outdoor fashion show at the Molitor Pool in Paris, France.
1962 – Algeria becomes independent from France.
1971 – Right to vote: The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 years, is formally certified by President Richard Nixon.
Happy Birthday Chuck Close
1977 – Military coup in Pakistan: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, is overthrown.
1989 – Iran-Contra affair: Oliver North is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell to a three-year suspended prison term, two years probation, $150,000 in fines and 1,200 hours community service. His convictions are later overturned.
1995 – The Republic of Armenia adopts its constitution, four years after its independence from the Soviet Union.
1996 – Dolly, the sheep becomes the first mammal cloned from an adult cell.
1999 – Bill Clinton imposes trade and economic sanctions against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
2012 – The Shard in London is inaugurated as the tallest building in Europe, with a height of 310 metres (1,020 ft).
Births
1675 – Mary Walcott, American witness at the Salem witch trials (d. 1719
1810 – P. T. Barnum, co-founded Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
1889 – Jean Cocteau, French novelist, poet, and playwright (d. 1963)
1902 – Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., American colonel and politician, 3rd United States Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 1985)
1911 – Georges Pompidou, 19th President of France (d. 1974)
1940 – Chuck Close, American painter and photographer
1963 – Edie Falco, American actress
Deaths
1969 – Walter Gropius, German architect, designed the John F. Kennedy Federal Building and Werkbund Exhibition (b. 1883)
2002 – Ted Williams, American baseball player and manager (b. 1918)
2011 – Cy Twombly, American-Italian painter, sculptor, and photographer