| 955 | | Otto organizes his nobles and defeats the invading Magyars at the Battle of Lechfeld in Germany. |
| 1539 | | King Francis of France declares that all official documents are to be written in French, not Latin. |
| 1557 | | French troops are defeated by Emmanuel Philibert's Spanish army at St. Quentin, France. |
| 1582 | | Russia ends its 25-year war with Poland. |
| 1628 | | The Swedish warship Vasa capsizes and sinks in Stockholm harbor on her maiden voyage. |
| 1779 | | Louis XVI of France frees the last remaining serfs on royal land. |
| 1831 | | William Driver of Salem, Massachusetts, is the first to use the term "Old Glory" in connection with the American flag, when he gives that name to a large flag aboard his ship, the Charles Daggett. |
| 1846 | | The Smithsonian Institution is established in Washington through the bequest of James Smithson. |
| 1864 | | Confederate Commander John Bell Hood sends his cavalry north of Atlanta to cut off Union General William Sherman's supply lines. |
| 1911 | | The House of Lords in Great Britain gives up its veto power, making the House of Commons the more powerful House. |
| 1913 | | The Treaty of Bucharest ends the Second Balkan War. |
| 1941 | | Great Britain and the Soviet Union promise aid to Turkey if it is attacked by the AxisPowers. |
| 1950 | | President Harry S. Truman calls the National Guard to active duty to fight in the Korean War. |
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