- 1519 – Ferdinand Magellan sets sail from Sanlucar de Barrameda with about 270 men on his expedition to circumnavigate the globe.
- 1881 – President Chester A. Arthur is sworn in following President James A. Garfield’s death.
- 1962 – African American student James Meredith is temporarily barred from entering the University of Mississippi.
- 1973 – Billie Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes tennis match at the Houston Astrodome.
- 1982 – Football players begin a 57-day strike during the 1982 NFL season.
- 1984 – A suicide bomber in a car attacks the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 23 people.
- 2000 – The six-year Whitewater investigation of President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton ended without any indictments being issued. Independent Counsel Robert Ray said there was insufficient evidence to establish criminal wrongdoing.
- 2001 – In an address to a joint session of Congress, President George W. Bush declares a “War on Terror.”
- 2011 – The U.S. military ends its “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, allowing gay men and women to serve openly for the first time.
