451 - Roman General Flavius Aetius defeats Attila the Hun at The Battle of the Catalaunian Plains (Chalons-sur-Marne), halting Hun invasion of Roman Gaul.
622 - Islamic Prophet Muhammed/Abu Bakr arrives in Jathrib (Medina).
1519 - Spanish expedition led by Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan sets off on the 1st successful circumnavigation of the globe (Magellan killed on route).
1854 - Battle of the Alma: first major battle of Crimean War. British and French alliance defeat the Russians.
1886 – The South African city of Johannesburg was founded.
1870 -Italian troops occupied Rome, leading to the eventual incorporation of Rome into the Kingdom of Italy and the limiting of papal governing authority to the Vatican itself and a small district around it.
1970 - Jim Morrison found guilty of “open profanity and indecent exposure” after allegedly exposing himself at a concert in Miami in 1969.
1972 - Libya acquires a 50 percent interest in two ENI oil concessions.
1990– Both East and West Germany ratify reunification.
1992 – 1992 France votes in favor of Maastricht treaty.
2001 - In an address to a joint session of Congress and the American people, US President George W. Bush declares a “war on terror”.
2003 – A referendum is held in Latvia to decide the country’s accession to the European Union.
2011 – Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell—a U.S. military policy that theoretically lifted a ban on homosexuals in the armed forces, provided that individuals kept their sexuality private—officially ended.
2013 - Grand Theft Auto becomes the fastest entertainment product to reach $1 Billion in sales.
2015 - Pope Francis meets Fidel Castro in Havana, on the 1st day of his tour of Cuba.
2019 - Students from 185 countries stage the world’s largest-ever protest on climate change culminating in Manhattan rally led by Greta Thunberg.
2019 - The MOSAiC expedition, the greatest Arctic research expedition ever, sets sail from Norway, aims to stay trapped in ice for a year to study climate change.
2019 - Batman Day – 80th anniversary of the first Batman comic.
2017 – Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, causing more than $90 billion in damages and, according to government officials, nearly 3,000 deaths.
Film & TV:
1984 - “Cosby Show” premieres on NBC-TV.
1999 - TV crime procedural “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” created by Dick Wolf, starring Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni premieres on NBC.
Music:
1969 - Virtual band Archies’ single “Sugar Sugar” hits #1.
1980 - “Blizzard of Ozz”, the debut solo album by English rock musician Ozzy Osbourne, is released in the United Kingdom.
Sport:
1973 - Billie Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in battle-of-sexes tennis match.
