910 - The last major Viking army to raid England is defeated at the Battle of Tettenhall by the allied forces of Mercia and Wessex, led by King Edward and Earl Aethelred.
1100 - Henry I is crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey.
1305 - William Wallace, who led Scottish resistance to England, is captured by the English near Glasgow and transported to London for trial and execution.
1388 - Battle of Otterburn, a border skirmish between the Scottish and the English in Northern England.
1583 - Sir Humphrey Gilbert establishes first English colony in North America, at what is now St John's, Newfoundland.
1620 - The Mayflower departs from Southampton, England on its first attempt to reach North America.
1689 - 1,500 Iroquois attack the village of Lachine, in New France.
1735 - Freedom of the press: New York Weekly Journal writer John Peter Zenger is acquitted of seditious libel against the royal governor of New York, on the basis that what he published was true.
1812 - War of 1812: Tecumseh's Native American force ambushes Thomas Van Horne's 200 Americans at Brownstone Creek, causing them to flee and retreat.
1858 - Cyrus West Field and others complete the first transatlantic telegraph cable after several unsuccessful attempts. It operated for less than a month.
1860 - Carl IV of Sweden-Norway is crowned king of Norway, in Trondheim.
1861 - American Civil War: In order to help pay for the war effort, the United States government levies the first income tax as part of the Revenue Act of 1861 (3% of all incomes over US $800; rescinded in 1872).
1884 - The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor.
1888 - Bertha Benz drives from Mannheim to Pforzheim in the first long distance automobile trip.
1901 - Peter O'Connor sets the first IAAF recognised long jump world record of 24ft 11¾ins. The record will stand for 20 years.
1912 - Japan's first taxicab service begins in Ginza, Tokyo.
1914 - In Cleveland, Ohio, the first electric traffic light is installed.
1925 - Plaid Cymru is formed with the aim of disseminating knowledge of the Welsh language, which is in danger of dying out.
1940 - World War II: Latvia is annexed by the Soviet Union.
1943 - World War II: at around 11 A.M during the Battle of Troina, Mount Etna erupts sending ash and lava miles into the sky.
1944 - World War II: possibly the biggest prison breakout in history occurs as 545 Japanese POWs attempt to escape outside the town of Cowra, NSW, Australia.
1944 - Holocaust: Polish insurgents liberate a German labor camp in Warsaw, freeing 348 Jewish prisoners.
1949 - In Ecuador an earthquake destroys 50 towns and kills more than 6000.
1957 - American Bandstand, a show dedicated to the teenage "baby-boomers" by playing the songs and showing popular dances of the time, debuts on the ABC television network.
1960 - Burkina Faso, then known as Upper Volta, becomes independent from France.
1962 - Nelson Mandela is jailed. He would not be released until 1990.
1963 - The United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union sign a nuclear test ban treaty.
1969 - Mariner program: Mariner 7 makes its closest fly-by of Mars (3,524 kilometers).
1974 - Vietnam War: The U.S. Congress places a $1 billion dollar limit on military aid to South Vietnam.
1979 - In Afghanistan, Maoists undertake an attempted military uprising.
1981 - Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 striking air-traffic controllers who ignored his order for them to return to work.
1989 - General elections are held in Nicaragua with the Sandinista Front winning a majority.
1995 - The city of Knin, a significant Serb stronghold, is captured by Croatian forces during Operation Storm. The date is celebrated as the day of victory (Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day) in Croatia.
2003 - A car bomb explodes in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta outside the Marriott Hotel killing 12 and injuring 150.
2011 - NASA announces that its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured photographic evidence of possible liquid water on Mars during warm seasons.
2011 - Juno, the first solar-powered spacecraft on a mission to Jupiter, is launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
