• 2492 BC - Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation.
• 480 BC - Greco-Persian Wars: Battle of Artemisium - The Persians achieve a naval victory over the Greeks in an engagement fought near Artemisium, a promontory on the north coast of Euboea. The Greek fleet holds its own against the Persians in three days of fighting but withdraws southward when news comes of the defeat at Thermopylae.
• 355 - Claudius Silvanus, accused of treason, proclaims himself Roman Emperor against Constantius II.
• 1786 - Captain Francis Light established the British colony of Penang in Malaysia
• 1804 - Francis II assumed title of first Emperor of Austria
• 1828 - William Corder is hanged at Bury St. Edmunds, England, for the murder of Maria Marten at the Red Barn a year ago.
• 1858 - First ascent of the Eiger.
• 1898 - Spanish-American War: American troops enter the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.
• 1918 - World War I - Battle of Amiens ends
• 1919 - Constitution of Weimar Republic adopted
• 1920 - The Latvia-Bolshevist Russia peace treaty, which relinquished Russia's authority and pretenses to Latvia, is signed.
• 1929 - Babe Ruth becomes the first baseball player to hit 500 home runs in his career with a home run at League Park in Cleveland, Ohio.
• 1934 - Federal prison opened at Alcatraz Island.
• 1952 - Hussein proclaimed king of Jordan
• 1960 - Chad declares independence.
• 1965 - Race riots (the Watts riots) begin in Watts area of Los Angeles, California.
• 1968 - The last steam passenger train service runs in Britain. A selection of British Rail steam locomotives make the 120-mile journey from Liverpool to Carlisle and returns to Liverpool before having their fires dropped for the last time - this working was known as the Fifteen Guinea Special.
• 1972 - Vietnam War: The last United States ground combat unit depart South Vietnam.
• 1975 - East Timor: Governor Mário Lemos Pires of Portuguese Timor abandons the capital Dili, following a coup by the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) and the outbreak of civil war between UDT and Fretilin.
• 1987 - Alan Greenspan becomes Chairman of the United States Federal Reserve.
• 1999 - A total solar eclipse visible from Europe and Asia.
• 1999 - The exceptional Salt Lake City Tornado tears through the downtown district of the city, killing one.
• 2003 - NATO takes over command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, marking its first major operation outside Europe in its 54-year-history.
• 2003 - Jemaah Islamiyah leader Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, is arrested in Bangkok, Thailand.
• 2003 - A heat wave in Paris resulted in temperatures rising to 112°F (44° C), leaving about 144 people dead.

Births