EVENTS:
- 1776 – The Continental Congress officially names its new union of sovereign states the United States.
- 1791 – Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, is named after President George Washington.
- 1850 – California is admitted as the thirty-first U.S. state.
- 1926 – In the United States the National Broadcasting Company is formed.
- 1965 – The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development is established.
- 1991 – Tajikistan declares independence from the Soviet Union.
- 2012 – The Indian space agency puts into orbit its heaviest foreign satellite yet, in a streak of 21 consecutive successful PLSV launches.
- 2012 – A wave of attacks kill more than 100 people and injure 350 others across Iraq.
- 2015 – Elizabeth II became the longest reigning monarch of the United Kingdom.
- 2016 – The government of North Korea conducts its fifth and reportedly biggest nuclear test. World leaders condemn the act, with South Korea calling it “maniacal recklessness”.
BIRTHS:
- 1853 – Fred Spofforth, Australian-English cricketer (d. 1926)
- 1894 – Bert Oldfield, Australian cricketer (d. 1976)
- 1904 – Feroze Khan, Indian-Pakistani field hockey player and coach (d. 2005)
- 1905 – Brahmarishi Hussain Sha, Indian philosopher and poet (d. 1981)
- 1939 – Ron McDole, American football player
- 1953 – Manjula Vijayakumar, Indian actress (d. 2013)
- 1967 – Akshay Kumar, Indian actor, martial artist, and producer
- 1974 – Vikram Batra, Indian captain (d. 1999)
- 1982 – Graham Onions, English cricketer
- 1984 – James Hildreth, English cricketer
- 1986 – Chamu Chibhabha, Zimbabwean cricketer
- 1989 – Alfonzo Dennard, American football player
- 1990 – Jordan Tabor, English footballer (d. 2014)
- 2003 – Luke Hughes, American ice hockey player
HOLIDAYS and OBSERVANCES:
- Chrysanthemum Day or Kiku no Sekku (Japan)
- Day of the Victims of Holocaust and of Racial Violence (Slovakia)
- Independence Day or Republic Day, celebrates the proclamation of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in 1948.
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Tajikistan from USSR in 1991.
- İzmir Independence Day, celebrates Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s capture of Izmir, Turkey, from Greece in 1922. (Turkey)
- Statehood Day (California)
