EVENTS:
- 1692 – Port Royal, Jamaica, was hit by a catastrophic earthquake; in just three minutes, 1,600 people were killed and 3,000 were seriously injured.
- 1776 – Richard Henry Lee presents the “Lee Resolution” to the Continental Congress. The motion was seconded by John Adams and led to the United States Declaration of Independence.
- 1893 – Mohandas Gandhi commits his first act of civil disobedience.
- 1975 – The inaugural Cricket World Cup began in England.
- 1990 – Universal Studios Florida opens in Orlando, FL.
- 1991 – Mount Pinatubo erupts, generating an ash column 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) high.
- 2000 – The United Nations defines the Blue Line as the border between Israel and Lebanon.
- 2013 – A bus catches fire in the Chinese city of Xiamen, killing at least 47 people and injuring more than 34 others.
- 2014 – At least 37 people are killed in an attack in the Democratic Republic of the Congo‘s South Kivu province.
- 2017 – A Myanmar Air Force Shaanxi Y-8 crashes into the Andaman Sea near Dawei, Myanmar, killing all 122 aboard.
BIRTHS:
- 1862 – Philipp Lenard, Slovak-German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1947)
- 1896 – Robert S. Mulliken, American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
- 1935 – Thomas Kailath, Indian-American engineer, author, and educator
- 1938 – Goose Gonsoulin, American football player
- 1952 – Orhan Pamuk, Turkish-American author, screenwriter, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1974 – Mahesh Bhupathi, Indian tennis player
- 1975 – Shane Bond, New Zealand cricketer
- 1981 – Stephen Bywater, English footballer
- 1985 – Simon Whaley, English footballer
- 1989 – Matt Smith, English footballer
- 1991 – Gary Rohan, Australian footballer
- 1992 – Alípio, Brazilian footballer
HOLIDAYS and OBSERVANCES:
