955Battle of Lechfeld: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor defeats the Magyars, ending 50 years of Magyar invasion of the West.
991Battle of Maldon: The English, led by Byrhtnoth, Ealdorman of Essex, are defeated by a band of inland-raiding Vikings near Maldon, Essex.
1030The Battle of Azaz ends with a humiliating retreat of the Byzantine emperor, Romanos III Argyros, against the Mirdasid rulers of Aleppo. The retreat degenerates into a rout, in which Romanos himself barely escapes capture.
1258Manfred, illegitimate son of Frederick II, is crowned king of Sicily.
1270Yekuno Amlak takes the imperial throne of Ethiopia, restoring the Solomonic dynasty to power after a 100-year Zagwe interregnum.
1316The Second Battle of Athenry takes place near Athenry during the Bruce campaign in Ireland.
1346Jaume Ferrer sets out from Mallorca for the "River of Gold", the Senegal River.
1512The naval Battle of Saint-Mathieu, during the War of the League of Cambrai, sees the simultaneous destruction of the Breton ship La Cordelière and the English ship The Regent.
1519Ferdinand Magellan's five ships set sail from Seville to circumnavigate the globe. The Basque second-in-command Juan Sebastián Elcano will complete the expedition after Magellan's death in the Philippines.
1557Battle of St. Quentin: Spanish victory over the French in the Italian War of 1551–59.
1741King Marthanda Varma of Travancore defeats the Dutch East India Company at the Battle of Colachel, effectively bringing about the end of the Dutch colonial rule in India.
1792French Revolution: Storming of the Tuileries Palace: Louis XVI is arrested and taken into custody as his Swiss Guards are massacred by the Parisian mob.
1808Finnish War: Swedish forces led by General von Döbeln defeat Russian forces led by General Šepelev in the Battle of Kauhajoki.
1835P. T. Barnum begins his career as a showman and circus entrepreneur by exhibiting Joice Heth, an octogenerian African slave whom he claims was George Washington's nursemaid.
1856The Last Island hurricane strikes Louisiana, resulting in over 200 deaths.
1861American Civil War: Battle of Wilson's Creek: A mixed force of Confederate, Missouri State Guard, and Arkansas State troops defeat outnumbered attacking Union forces in the southwestern part of Missouri.
1864After Uruguay's governing Blanco Party refuses Brazil's demands, José Antônio Saraiva announces that the Brazilian military will begin reprisals, beginning the Uruguayan War.
1864After a severe electric storm, Providence Spring emerged at the Confederate States Army's Andersonville Prison in Sumter County, Georgia, making it the only source of clean drinking water for 32,000 Union Army prisoners on of ground.
1901The U.S. Steel recognition strike by the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers begins.
1904Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of the Yellow Sea between the Russian and Japanese battleship fleets takes place.
1905Russo-Japanese War: Peace negotiations begin in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
1944World War II: The Battle of Guam in the Pacific comes to an effective end.
1944World War II: The Battle of Narva on the Eastern Front ends with a defensive German victory.
1945The Japanese government announced that a message had been sent to the Allies accepting the terms of the Potsdam Declaration provided that it "does not comprise any demand that prejudices the prerogatives of the Emperor as sovereign ruler."
1948Candid Camera makes its television debut after being on radio for a year as The Candid Microphone.
1949An amendment to the National Security Act of 1947 enhances the authority of the United States Secretary of Defense over the Army, Navy and Air Force, and replaces the National Military Establishment with the Department of Defense.
1954At Massena, New York, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Saint Lawrence Seaway is held.
1961Vietnam War: The U.S. Army begins Operation Ranch Hand, spraying an estimated of defoliants and herbicides over rural areas of South Vietnam in an attempt to deprive the Viet Cong of food and vegetation cover.
1966The Heron Road Bridge collapses while being built, killing nine workers in the deadliest construction accident in both Ottawa and Ontario.
1971The Society for American Baseball Research is founded in Cooperstown, New York.
1977In Yonkers, New York, 24-year-old postal employee David Berkowitz ("Son of Sam") is arrested for a series of killings in the New York City area over the period of one year.
1978Three members of the Ulrich family are killed in an accident. This leads to the Ford Pinto litigation.
1981Murder of Adam Walsh: The head of John Walsh's son is found. This inspires the creation of the television series America's Most Wanted and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
1988Japanese American internment: U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, providing $20,000 payments to Japanese Americans who were either interned in or relocated by the United States during World War II.
1993Two earthquakes affect New Zealand. A 7.0 shock (intensity VI (Strong)) in the South Island was followed nine hours later by a 6.4 event (intensity VII (Very strong)) in the North Island.
2003The Okinawa Urban Monorail is opened in Naha, Okinawa.
2009Twenty people are killed in Handlová, Trenčín Region, in the deadliest mining disaster in Slovakia's history.
2012The Marikana massacre begins near Rustenburg, South Africa, resulting in the deaths of 47 people.
2014Forty people are killed when Sepahan Airlines Flight 5915 crashes at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport.
2018Horizon Air employee Richard Russell hijacks and performs an unauthorized takeoff on a Horizon Air Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 plane at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport in Washington, flying it for more than an hour before crashing the plane and killing himself on Ketron Island in Puget Sound.
2018An anti-government rally turns into a riot when members of the Romanian Gendarmerie attack the 100,000 people protesting in front of the Victoria Palace, leading to 452 recorded injuries. The authorities alleged that the crowd was infiltrated by hooligans who began attacking law enforcement agents.
2019Thirty-two are killed and one million are evacuated as Typhoon Lekima makes landfall in Zhejiang, China. Earlier it had caused flooding in the Philippines.
2019Philip Manshaus shoots his stepsister and attacks a mosque in the Bærum mosque shooting.
2020Derecho in Iowa becomes the most costly thunderstorm disaster in U.S. history.
2024Israel strikes Al-Tabaeen school in eastern Gaza City, killing at least 80 Palestinians.
Nacimientos (270)
941Lê Hoàn, Vietnamese emperor (died 1005)
1267James II of Aragon (died 1327)
1296John of Bohemia (died 1346)
1360Francesco Zabarella, Italian cardinal (died 1417)
1397Albert II of Germany (died 1439)
1439Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter, Duchess of York (died 1476)
1449Bona of Savoy, Duchess of Savoy (died 1503)
1466Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua (died 1519)
1489Jacob Sturm von Sturmeck, German lawyer and politician (died 1553)
1520Madeleine of Valois (died 1537)
1528Eric II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (died 1584)
1547Francis II, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (died 1619)
1560Hieronymus Praetorius, German organist and composer (died 1629)
1602Gilles de Roberval, French mathematician and academic (died 1675)
1645Eusebio Kino, Italian priest and missionary (died 1711)
1734Naungdawgyi, Burmese king (died 1763)
1737Anton Losenko, Russian painter and academic (died 1773)
1740Samuel Arnold, English organist and composer (died 1802)
1744Alexandrine Le Normant d'Étiolles, daughter of Madame de Pompadour (died 1754)
1755Narayan Rao, fifth Peshwa of the Maratha Empire (died 1773)
1782Vicente Guerrero, Mexican insurgent leader and President of Mexico (died 1831)
1805Ferenc Toldy, German-Hungarian historian and critic (died 1875)
1809John Kirk Townsend, American ornithologist and explorer (died 1851)
1810Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, Italian soldier and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Italy (died 1861)
1814Henri Nestlé, German businessman, founded Nestlé (died 1890)
Declaration of Independence of Quito, proclaimed independence from Spain on August 10, 1809. Independence was finally attained on May 24, 1822, at the Battle of Pichincha. (Ecuador)