1898 – The Fashoda Incident ended with French forces withdrawing after several months of military stalemate with the British in
Fashoda (now in South Sudan).
1278 – Trần Thánh Tông, the second emperor of Vietnam's
Trần dynasty, took up the title of retired emperor, but continued to co-rule with his son
Nhân Tông(pictured) for eleven more years.
1957 – En route from San Francisco to Honolulu, Pan Am Flight 7 crashed into the Pacific Ocean due to unknown causes, killing all 44 people on board.
1913 – A severe blizzard reached its maximum intensity in the
Great Lakes Basin of North America, destroying 19 ships and 68,300
tons of cargo, and killing more than 250 people.
1938 – Kristallnacht began as
SA stormtroopers and civilians destroyed and ransacked Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues in Germany and Austria, resulting in at least 90 deaths and the deportation of 30,000 men to
concentration camps.
1967 – The first issue of Rolling Stone, an American magazine focusing on music, politics and popular culture, was published.
1599 – At the culmination of a Swedish civil war, supporters of the deposed
Sigismund III Vasa were publicly executed in what came to be known as the Åbo Bloodbath.
1880 – Australian
bushranger and outlaw Ned Kelly was hanged in spite of sympathizers holding rallies for his reprieve.
1918 – Józef Piłsudski, appointed the commander-in-chief of Polish forces by the
Regency Council, was entrusted with the creation of a national government for the newly independent Poland.
1992 – The
High Court of Australia ruled in Dietrich v The Queen that, although there is no absolute right to have publicly funded counsel, a judge should grant any request for an adjournment or stay in most circumstances in which an accused is unrepresented.
1997 – Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng, released on ostensibly medical grounds after spending eighteen years in prison, was deported to the United States.
1977 – Solomon Islands ratified the adoption of a new flag(pictured).
1978 –
Jim Jones led more than 900 members of the
Peoples Temple to mass murder/suicide in Jonestown, Guyana, hours after some of its members assassinated U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan.
1933 – The Union of the Right, a coalition of right-wing parties, won the majority of seats in the 1933 Spanish general election, the first election in the country with suffrage extended to women.
2003 – Suicide bombers blew up the British consulate and the headquarters of
HSBC Bank in Istanbul, killing 31 people, including consul general
Roger Short and actor
Kerem Yılmazer.
1950 – Two trains collided near
Valemount, Canada, killing 21 people; the subsequent trial brought future prime minister
John Diefenbaker to greater political attention.
1876 – William "Boss" Tweed, a New York City politician who had been arrested for
embezzlement, was handed over to US authorities after having escaped from prison and fled to Spain.
1885 – Banff National Park(pictured), the oldest national park in Canada, was established as the Banff Hot Springs Reserve.
1951 – The left-wing Japanese novelist Wataru Kaji disappeared, leading to a government inquiry in which CIA involvement was investigated; Kaji stated he was kidnapped and held against his will by intelligence officers, which the United States denied.
2008 – A coordinated group of shooting and bombing attacks across
Mumbai began, ultimately killing at least 174 people and wounding more than 300 others.
2009 –
Lady Gaga performed the first concert of The Monster Ball Tour, which became the highest-grossing tour in history for a debut headlining artist.
1443 – Having deserted the
Ottoman army, Skanderbeg(pictured) arrived in the Albanian city of
Krujë and, using a forged letter from Sultan
Murad II to the governor of Krujë, became lord of the city.
1781 – The crew of the British
slave shipZong, running low on water, began the killing of more than 130
African slaves by throwing them into the sea to claim insurance.