1764 – Election of Stanisław August Poniatowski as the last ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Otherwise known as The Commonwealth, this dualistic state came into being through the Union of Lublin, establishing an elective monarchy. The union was necessary directly for the Lithuanians, offering the nation adequate defense from the growing Russian empire. The elected monarch carried out the duties of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania and governed with a common Senate and parliament (the Sejm). The instability that led to the fall of the union left a power-vacuum over the 314,673 square miles of land, allowing for the Russians, Austrians, and Prussians seizure over much of the landmass.
1922 – The Bank of Latvia established.
1940 – World War II: The German Luftwaffe begins the Blitz, bombing London, and other British cities for over 50 consecutive nights.
2010 – A Chinese fishing trawler collided with two Japanese Coast Guard patrol boats in disputed waters near the Senkaku Islands. The collisions occurred after the Japanese Coast Guard ordered the trawler to leave the area. After the collisions, Japanese sailors boarded the Chinese vessel and arrested the captain, Zhan Qixiong.
2012 – Canada officially cuts diplomatic ties with Iran by closing its embassy in Tehran and ordered the expulsion of Iranian diplomats from Ottawa, over nuclear plans and alleged rights abuses.
Births
1801 – Sarel Cilliers, South African preacher, and activist (d.1871)
1810 – Hermann Heinrich Gossen, Prussian economist, specialized in microeconomics, and academic (d. 1858). Microeconomics is the branch of economics that studies the behaviors of individuals and firms (companies, corporations, etc.) in making decisions regarding the allocation of limited resources (the concept of human wants in a world of limited resources).
1903 – Margaret Landon, American missionary and author (d. 1993)
1934 – Omar Karami, Lebanese lawyer and politician, 58th Prime Minister of Lebanon (d. 2015)
Deaths
1566 – Suleiman the Magnificent, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1494)
1731 – Eudoxia Lopukhina, wife of Peter the Great (b. 1669)
1962 – Graham Walker, English motorcycle racer and journalist (b. 1897)
1970 – Yitzhak Gruenbaum, Polish-Israeli journalist and politician, First Internal Affairs Minister of Israel (b. 1879)
2002 – Uziel Gal, German-Israeli colonel and gun designer, designed the Uzi
