1584 – Sir Walter Raleigh is granted a patent to colonize Virginia.
1807 – The English Parliament abolished the slave trade.
1911 – A fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City killed 146 people. The tragedy led to the eventual enactment of many state and national workplace safety laws.
1994 – U.S. forces completed a withdrawal from Mogadishu, Somalia, except for a small number of soldiers left behind to provide support for U.N. peacekeepers.
