1720 – Caribbean pirate Calico Jack is captured by the Royal Navy.
1803 – The United States Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase.
1827 – In the Battle of Navarino, a combined Turkish and Egyptian fleet is defeated by British, French, and Russian naval forces in the last significant battle fought with wooden sailing ships.
1910 – The hull of the RMS Olympic, sister-ship to the ill-fated RMS Titanic, is launched from the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
1944 – American general Douglas MacArthur fulfills his promise to return to the Philippines when he commands an Allied assault on the islands, reclaiming them from the Japanese during the Second World War.
1947 – The House Un-American Activities Committee begins its investigation into Communist infiltration of the cinema of the United States, resulting in a blacklist that prevents some from working in the industry for years.
1968 – Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy marries Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.
1973 – “Saturday Night Massacre”: President Richard Nixon fires U.S. Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus after they refuse to fire Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who is finally fired by Robert Bork.
1981 – Two police officers and an armored car guard are killed during an armed robbery in Rockland County, New York, carried out by members of the Black Liberation Army and Weather Underground.
2011 – Libyan Civil War: National Transitional Council rebel forces capture ousted Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in his hometown of Sirte and kill him shortly thereafter.
Births
1603 – Simon de Vos, Flemish painter (d. 1676)
1620 – Aelbert Cuyp, Dutch painter (d. 1691)
1632 – Christopher Wren, English physicist, mathematician, and architect, designed St Paul’s Cathedral (d. 1723)
1874 – Charles Ives, American composer (d. 1954)
1885 – Jelly Roll Morton, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (Red Hot Peppers and New Orleans Rhythm Kings) (d. 1941)
1923 – Robert Craft, American conductor and musicologist (d. 2015)
1925 – Art Buchwald, American soldier and journalist (d. 2007)
1931 – Mickey Mantle, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1995)
1936 – Bobby Seale, American activist, co-founded the Black Panther Party
1940 – Robert Pinsky, American poet and critic
1953 – Keith Hernandez, American baseball player and sportscaster
Deaths
1401 – Klaus Störtebeker, German pirate
1926 – Eugene V. Debs, American union leader and politician (b. 1855)
1964 – Herbert Hoover, 31st President of the United States (b. 1874)
2014 – René Burri, Swiss photographer and journalist (b. 1933)
2014 – Oscar de la Renta, Dominican-American fashion designer