EVENTS:
- 1333 – The River Arno flooding causing massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani.
- 1817 – The Bank of Montreal, Canada’s oldest chartered bank, opens in Montreal.
- 1838 – The Times of India, the world’s largest circulated English language daily broadsheet newspaper is founded as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce.
- 1911 – Chevrolet officially enters the automobile market in competition with the Ford Model T.
- 1918 – Poland declares its independence from Russia.
- 1957 – Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2. On board is the first animal to enter orbit, a dog named Laika.
- 1973 – Mariner program: NASA launches the Mariner 10 toward Mercury. On March 29, 1974, it becomes the first space probe to reach that planet.
- 1978 – Dominica gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1986 – The Federated States of Micronesia gain independence from the United States of America.
- 2013 – A solar eclipse sweeps across Africa, Europe and the Eastern United States.
- 2014 – One World Trade Center officially opens.
- 2016 – The Chicago Cubs defeat the Cleveland Indians in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series to earn their first title in 108 years; ending the then longest title drought in US sports history.
- 2020 – The 2020 United States presidential election takes place between Democratic Joe Biden and Republican incumbent President Donald Trump. On November 7, Biden was declared the winner.
BIRTHS:
- 1911 – Kick Smit, Dutch footballer and manager (d. 1974)
- 1917 – Annapurna Maharana, Indian activist (d. 2012)
- 1933 – Amartya Sen, Indian economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1945 – Gerd Müller, German footballer and manager
- 1948 – Rainer Zobel, German footballer, coach, and manager
- 1955 – Phil Simms, American football player and sportscaster
- 1963 – Ian Wright, English footballer, manager, and sportscaster
- 1974 – Sonali Kulkarni, Indian actress
- 1975 – Darren Sharper, American football player and sportscaster
- 1979 – Beau McDonald, Australian footballer and coach
- 1990 – Ellyse Perry, Australian footballer and cricketer
- 2001 – Jake LaRavia, American basketball player
HOLIDAYS and OBSERVANCES:
- Culture Day (Japan)
- Independence Day / Separation Day, celebrates the separation and independence of Panama from Colombia in 1903.
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Dominica from the United Kingdom in 1978.
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of the Federated States of Micronesia from the United States in 1986.
- Victory Day (Maldives)
