Today:
1580 – English sea captain Sir Francis Drake completed his circumnavigation of the globe, returning to Plymouth, England.
1687 – The Parthenon in Athens was partially destroyed by Venetian bombardment during the Great Turkish War.
1777 – British troops occupied Philadelphia during the American Revolutionary War.
1789 – Thomas Jefferson was appointed the first U.S. Secretary of State, and John Jay the first Chief Justice of the United States.
1815 – The Holy Alliance between Russia, Austria, and Prussia was formed, aiming to suppress revolutionary movements in Europe.
1907 – New Zealand declared itself a Dominion, becoming effectively self-governing.
1914 – The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was established in the United States.
1960 – The first televised presidential debate took place between U.S. candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
1983 – Soviet officer Stanislav Petrov averted a potential nuclear war by correctly identifying a false alarm in the Soviet Union’s early warning systems.
1997 – An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale struck central Italy, causing significant damage, particularly to Assisi.