- 1698 – Tsar Peter I of Russia imposes a tax on beards for all men except the clergy and peasantry.
- 1774 – First Continental Congress assembles in secret in Philadelphia.
- 1781 – Battle of the Chesapeake in the American Revolutionary War: The British Navy is repelled by the French Navy, contributing to the British surrender at Yorktown.
- 1882 – 10,000 workers marched in the first Labor Day parade in New York City.
- 1906 – The first legal forward pass in American football is thrown by Bradbury Robinson of St. Louis University to teammate Jack Schneider in a 22-0 victory over Carrol College.
- 1939 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a proclamation declaring U.S. neutrality in World War II. The U.S. joined the war in 1941.
- 1972 – A Palestinian terrorist group called “Black September” attacks and takes hostage 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games. Two died in the attack and nine are murdered the following day.
- 1975 – Lynnette “Squeaky” Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson, attempts to assassinate President Gerald Ford in Sacramento, California.
