- 55 BC - Julius Caesar invades Britain
- AD 1071 - Battle of Manzikert: The Seljuk Turks defeat the Byzantine Empire at Manzikert
- 1278 - Ladislaus IV Ungerlandes and Rudolph I Þēodisclandes defeat Premysl Ottokar II of Bohemia in the Battle of Marchfield near Dürnkrut in Moravia.
- 1346 - Hundred Years' War: The military supremacy of the English longbow over the French combination of crossbow and armoured knights is established at the Battle of Crēcy.
- 1429 - Joan of Arc enters Paris.
- 1498 - Michelangelo commissioned to carve the Pietà.
- 1778 - The first ascent of Triglav, the highest mountain of Slovenia.
- 1789 - Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen approved by Constituent Assembly at Palace of Versailles
- 1839 - Þæt scip Amistad hæftode man be Langum Īeglande.
- 1858 - First news dispatch by telegraph.
- 1862 - Second Battle of Bull Run begins in the American Civil War.
- 1883 - Eruption of Mount Krakatoa.
- 1914 - Germans defeat Russians in Battle of Tannenberg.
- 1914 - The British Expeditionary Force briefly checks the German advance at Le Cateau.
- 1914 - The German colony of Togoland is invaded by French and British forces, who take it after 5 days.
- 1920 - 19th amendment to U.S. Constitution gives women the right to vote.
- 1939 - The first Major League Baseball game is telecast, a double-header between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field, in Brooklyn, New York.
- 1940 - Chad is the first French colony to join the Allies under the administration of Fēlix Ēbouē, France's first black colonial governor.
- 1944 - Charles de Gaulle enters Paris.
- 1957 - The USSR tests an ICBM.
- 1968 - Democratic National Convention opens in Chicago, Illinois
- 1968 - The Beatles' Hey Jude is released as a single in the United States under the Apple Records label.
- 1972 - Games of the XX Olympiad open in Munich, Germany.
- 1976 - Raymond Barre wierþ Fyrmestscealc Franclandes.
- 1978 - Papal conclave, 1978 (August): Pope John Paul I is elevated to the Papacy.
- 1978 - Sigmund Jähn becomes first German cosmonaut on board of the Soyuz 31 spacecraft.
- 1986 - Toxic gas kills 1700 in Cameroon.
- 1987 - President Ronald Wilson Reagan proclaims September 11, 1987 as 9-1-1 Emergency Number Day.
- 1988 - Merhan Karimi Nasseri arrives at Charles de Gaulle International Airport.
- 1997 - Beni-Ali massacre in Algeria; 60-100 people killed.
- 2002 - Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Ēric Gagnē converts his first of a record 84 consecutive successful save opportunities.
- 2002 - Earth Summit 2002 begins in Johannesburg, South Africa.
- 2003 - Columbia Accident Investigation Board releases its final reports on Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
- 1676 - Robert Walpole, Fyrmestscealc þæs Geānlǣhtan Cynerīces (d. 1745)
- 1694 - Elisha Williams, American rector of Yale College (d. 1755)
- 1743 - Antoine Lavoisier, French chemist (d. 1794)
- 1775 - William Joseph Behr, German writer (d. 1851)
- 1792 - Manuel Oribe, Uruguayan political figure (d. 1857)
- 1873 - Lee DeForest, American inventor (d. 1961)
- 1875 - John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, Scottish novelist, Governor General of Canada (d. 1940)
- 1880 - Guillaume Apollinaire, French poet and art critic (d. 1918)
- 1882 - James Franck, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1964)
- 1896 - Ivan Mihailov, Bulgarian revolutionary (d. 1990)
- 1897 - Yoon Boseon, President of South Korea (d. 1990)
- 1898 - Peggy Guggenheim, American art collector (d. 1979)
- 1900 - Hellmuth Walter, German engineer and inventor (d. 1980)
- 1901 - Maxwell Taylor, American general (d. 1987)
- 1904 - Christopher Isherwood, Anglo-American writer (d. 1986)
- 1906 - Albert Sabin, American polio researcher (d. 1993)
- 1909 - Jim Davis, American actor (d. 1981)
- 1914 - Julio Cortāzar, Argentine writer (d. 1984)
- 1921 - Benjamin Bradlee, American journalist
- 1922 - Irving R. Levine, American journalist
- 1923 - Wolfgang Sawallisch, German conductor and pianist
- 1934 - Tom Heinsohn, American basketball player and commentator
- 1935 - Geraldine Ferraro, U.S. Vice Presidential candidate
- 1941 - Barbet Schroeder, Swiss film director
- 1942 - Dennis Turner, British politician
- 1944 - Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester
- 1946 - Valerie Simpson, American singer
- 1952 - Michael Jeter, American actor (d. 2003)
- 1957 - Dr. Alban, Nigerian singer
- 1960 - Branford Marsalis, American saxophonist and bandleader
- 1971 - Thalīa, Mexican actress
- 1979 - Jamal Lewis, American football player
- 1980 - Macaulay Culkin, American actor
- 1278 - Premysl Ottokar II
- 1349 - Thomas Bradwardine, Arcebisceop on Cantwarbyrg
- 1551 - Margareta Leijonhufvud, Cwēn Swēolandes (b. 1516)
- 1666 - Frans Hals, Niðerlendisc mētere
- 1714 - Edward Fowler, Englisc Bisceop Glēawceastre (b. 1632)
- 1723 - Anton van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch scientist (b. 1632)
- 1850 - Louis-Philippe of France (b. 1773)
- 1915 - John Bunny American comedian (b. 1863)
- 1930 - Lon Chaney, Sr., American actor (b. 1883)
- 1945 - Franz Werfel, Ēastrīcisc wrītere (b. 1890)
- 1958 - Ralph Vaughan Williams, English composer (b. 1872)
- 1968 - Kay Francis, American actress (b. 1899)
- 1974 - Charles Lindbergh, American aviator (b. 1902)
- 1976 - Lotte Lehmann, German soprano (b. 1888)
- 1978 - Charles Boyer, French actor (b. 1899)
- 1979 - Mika Waltari, Finnish author (b. 1908)
- 1980 - Tex Avery, American cartoonist (b. 1908)
- 1981 - Roger Nash Baldwin, American founder of the American Civil Liberties Union (b. 1884)
- 1986 - Ted Knight, American actor (b. 1923)
- 1989 - Irving Stone, American author (b. 1903)
- 1990 - Minoru Honda, Iapanisc astronomer (b. 1913)
- 1998 - Frederick Reines, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
- 2003 - Jim Wacker, American football coach (b. 1937)
- 2004 - Laura Branigan, American sangestre (b. 1957)
