EVENTS:
- 1821 – Mexico gains its independence from Spain.
- 1908 – The first production of the Ford Model T automobile was built at the Piquette Plant in Detroit, Michigan.
- 1928 – The Republic of China is recognized by the United States.
- 1959 – Nearly 5,000 people die on the main Japanese island of Honshū as the result of a typhoon.
- 1961 – Sierra Leone joins the United Nations.
- 1962 – The Yemen Arab Republic is established.
- 1979 – The United States Department of Education receives final approval from the U.S. Congress to become the 13th US Cabinet agency.
- 1983 – Richard Stallman announces the GNU project to develop a free Unix-like operating system.
- 2003 – Smart 1 satellite is launched.
- 2007 – NASA launches the Dawn probe.
- 2008 – CNSA astronaut Zhai Zhigang becomes the first Chinese person to perform a spacewalk while flying on Shenzhou 7.
- 2014 – Eruption of Monut Ontake in Japan occurs.
- 2015 – A total lunar eclipse takes place during a supermoon visible across much of the world.
- 2019 – Over two million people participated in worldwide strikes to protest climate change across 2,400 locations worldwide.
- 2020 – Second Nagorno-Karabakh war: Azerbaijan launched an offensive against the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh, inhabited predominantly by ethnic Armenians.
BIRTHS:
- 1871 – Grazia Deledda, Italian author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1936)
- 1905 – Conrad Heidkamp, German footballer and manager (d. 1994)
- 1918 – Martin Ryle, English astronomer and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
- 1925 – Robert Edwards, English physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
- 1932 – Geoff Bent, English footballer (d. 1958)
- 1932 – Yash Chopra, Pakistani-Indian director and producer (d. 2012)
- 1932 – Oliver E. Williamson, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1941 – Peter Bonetti, English footballer and coach
- 1948 – Les Chapman, English footballer and manager
- 1953 – Mata Amritanandamayi, Indian guru and saint
- 1957 – Bill Athey, English cricketer, footballer, and coach
- 1962 – Gavin Larsen, New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster
- 1981 – Lakshmipathy Balaji, Indian cricketer
- 1984 – Abhinav Shukla, Indian actor
- 1993 – Vinnie Sunseri, American football player
HOLIDAYS and OBSERVANCES:
- End of Independence War (Mexico)
- French Community Holiday (French community of Belgium)
- World Tourism Day (International)
