1917 – The most famous spy of World War I, Gertrude Zelle, better known as Mata Hari, is executed outside of Paris.
1946 – Nazi Reichmarschall Hermann Goering, sentenced to death as a war criminal, committed suicide in his prison cell on the eve of his scheduled execution.
1966 – Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party.
1991 – The Senate confirmed Clarence Thomas as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
2009 – A false report that a 6-year-old boy was aboard a runaway balloon in Colorado captivated a global TV audience. The boy’s parents later pleaded guilty to charges they made up the story.
