EVENTS:
- 1783 – The Montgolfier brothers publicly demonstrate their montgolfière (hot air balloon).
- 1917 – The first Pulitzer Prizes are awarded: Laura E. Richards, Maude H. Elliott, and Florence Hall receive the first Pulitzer for biography (for Julia Ward Howe). Jean Jules Jusserand receives the first Pulitzer for history for his work With Americans of Past and Present Days. Herbert B. Swope receives the first Pulitzer for journalism for his work for the New York World.
- 1919 – Women’s rights: The U.S. Congress approves the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees suffrage to women, and sends it to the U.S. states for ratification.
- 1970 – Tonga gains independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1996 – The first flight of Ariane 5 explodes after roughly 37 seconds. It was a Cluster mission.
- 2012 – The Diamond Jubilee Concert is held outside Buckingham Palace on The Mall, London. Organised by Gary Barlow, the concert is part of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
- 2015 – An explosion at a gasoline station in Accra, Ghana, killing over 200 people.
- 2023 – Protests begin in Poland against the Duda government.
- 2023 – Four people are killed when a Cessna Citation V crashes into Mine Bank Mountain in Augusta County, Virginia.
BIRTHS:
- 1877 – Heinrich Otto Wieland, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
- 1904 – Bhagat Puran Singh, Indian publisher, environmentalist, and philanthropist (d. 1992)
- 1916 – Robert F. Furchgott, American biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
- 1946 – S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Indian actor, singer, director, and producer
- 1947 – Ashok Saraf, Indian actor
- 1960 – Bradley Walsh, English footballer and actor
- 1974 – Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni, Indian chef (d. 2012)
- 1975 – Henry Burris, American football player
- 1977 – Alex Manninger, Austrian footballer
HOLIDAYS and OBSERVANCES:
- Birthday of Bhagat Puran Singh (Sikhism)
- Emancipation Day or Independence Day, commemorates the abolition of serfdom in Tonga by King George Tupou in 1862, and the independence of Tonga from the British protectorate in 1970. (Tonga)
- Flag Day (Estonia)
- International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression (International)
- National Unity Day (Hungary)
