EVENTS:
- 1768 – The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica is published.
- 1790 – The U.S. Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia.
- 1865 – The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, banning slavery.
- 1884 – The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., is completed.
- 1907 – A coal mine explosion at Monongah, West Virginia, kills 362 workers.
- 1917 – Finland declares independence from Russia.
- 1933 – U.S. federal judge John M. Woolsey rules that James Joyce’s novel Ulysses is not obscene.
- 1971 – Pakistan severs diplomatic relations with India following New Delhi’s recognition of Bangladesh.
- 1978 – Spain approves its latest constitution in a referendum.
- 1992 – The Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, India, is demolished, leading to widespread riots causing the death of over 1,500 people.
- 2006 – NASA reveals photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of liquid water on Mars.
- 2015 – Venezuelan elections are held. For the first time in 17 years the United Socialist Party of Venezuela loses its majority in parliament.
- 2017 – Donald Trump‘s administration officially announces the recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel.
- 2018 – The Vancouver Canucks defeat the Nashville Predators 5-3 and the Botchford prophecy is fulfilled.
BIRTHS:
- 1853 – Haraprasad Shastri, Indian historian and scholar (d. 1931)
- 1898 – Gunnar Myrdal, Swedish sociologist and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
- 1920 – George Porter, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
- 1921 – Otto Graham, American football player and coach (d. 2003)
- 1932 – Kamleshwar, Indian author, screenwriter, and critic (d. 2007)
- 1945 – Shekhar Kapur, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1951 – Gerry Francis, English footballer and manager
- 1952 – Joe Harris, American football player
- 1953 – Gary Goodman, Australian cricketer and coach
- 1977 – Andrew Flintoff, English cricketer and coach
- 1978 – Darrell Jackson, American football player
- 1979 – Tim Cahill, Australian footballer
- 1980 – Steve Lovell, English footballer
- 1982 – Sean Ervine, Zimbabwean cricketer
- 1985 – Rudra Pratap Singh, Indian cricketer
- 1992 – Johnny Manziel, American football player
HOLIDAYS and OBSERVANCES:
- Anniversary of the Founding of Quito (Ecuador)
- Constitution Day (Spain)
- Day of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies of Azerbaijan
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Finland from Russia in 1917.
- National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women (Canada)
