1761 – The Third Battle of Panipat takes place in India, one of the largest and bloodiest battles of the 18th century, reshaping power on the subcontinent.
1784 – The Continental Congress ratifies the Treaty of Paris, formally ending the American Revolutionary War.
1907 – An earthquake kills over 12,000 people in Kingston, Jamaica.
1920 – The League of Nations holds its first official meeting in Paris.
1954 – Marilyn Monroe marries baseball star Joe DiMaggio, creating one of the most famous celebrity unions of the 20th century.
1967 – The Human Be-In takes place in San Francisco, becoming a defining event of the counterculture movement.
2004 – Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is sworn into office following a peaceful revolution.
2011 – Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali flees the country, sparking the wider Arab Spring movement.
Famous Birthdays
83 BCE – Mark Antony, Roman general and politician (d. 30 BCE)
1741 – Benedict Arnold, American Revolutionary War general (d. 1801)
1882 – Hendrik Willem van Loon, Dutch-American historian (d. 1944)
1905 – Claire Trevor, American actress (d. 2000)
1941 – Faye Dunaway, American actress
1954 – Harold Shipman, British physician and serial killer (d. 2004)
1970 – Dave Grohl, American musician (Nirvana, Foo Fighters)
1981 – Pitbull, American rapper and entertainer
1985 – Shawn Wayans, American actor and comedian
Notable Deaths
1301 – Andrew III of Hungary, King of Hungary (b. 1265)
1898 – Lewis Carroll, English author (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland) (b. 1832)
1926 – Viktor Vasnetsov, Russian painter (b. 1848)
1951 – Elly Ney, German pianist (b. 1882)
1963 – Sylvia Plath, American poet (b. 1932)
1972 – Fredric March, American actor (b. 1897)
1994 – Mickey Spillane, American novelist (b. 1918)