2005: Tropical Storm Alpha forms in the Atlantic Basin, making the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season the most active Atlantic hurricane season on record with 22 named storms.
2001: Grand Theft Auto III was released, popularizing a genre of open-world, action-adventure video games as well as spurring controversy around violence in video games.
1999: Maurice Papon, an official in the Vichy France government during World War II, is jailed for crimes against humanity.
1983: Two correctional officers are killed by inmates at the United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois. The incident inspires the Supermax model of prisons.
1981: The founding congress of the Nepal Workers and Peasants Organization faction led by Hareram Sharma and D. P. Singh begins.
1981: The United States Federal Labor Relations Authority votes to decertify the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) for its strike the previous August.
1947: Kashmir conflict starts, a territorial conflict primarily between India and Pakistan, having started just after the partition of India in 1947.
1946: Soviet Operation Osoaviakhim takes place, recruiting of thousands of military-related technical specialists from the Soviet occupation zone of post-World-War-II Germany for employment in the Soviet Union.
1943: World War II: in the Second firestorm raid on Germany, the Royal Air Force conducts an air raid on the town of Kassel, killing 10,000 and rendering 150,000 homeless.
1941: World War II: French resistance member Guy Môquet and 29 other hostages are executed by the Germans in retaliation for the death of a German officer.
1895: In Paris an express train derails after overrunning the buffer stop, crossing almost 30 metres (100 ft) of concourse before crashing through a wall and falling 10 metres (33 ft) to the road below.
1883: The Metropolitan Opera House in New York City opens with a performance of Gounod's Faust.
1879: Using a filament of carbonized thread, Thomas Edison tests the first practical electric incandescent light bulb (it lasted 13½ hours before burning out).
1878: The first rugby match under floodlights takes place in Salford, between Broughton and Swinton.
1844: The Great Anticipation: Millerites, followers of William Miller, anticipate the end of the world in conjunction with the Second Advent of Christ. The following day became known as the Great Disappointment.
1746: The College of New Jersey (later renamed Princeton University) receives its charter.
1730: Construction of the Ladoga Canal is completed.
1707: Scilly naval disaster: Four British naval vessels run aground on the Isles of Scilly because of faulty navigation. In response, the first Longitude Act is enacted in 1714.