Today:
1795: President George Washington signs the Jay Treaty with Great Britain, which sought to resolve issues remaining from the American Revolution and avert another war.
1900: An international force of troops from eight nations entered Beijing, China, to end the Boxer Rebellion.
1917: China officially declared war on Germany during World War I.
1935: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law, creating a government pension system for retirees and aid for the unemployed.
1941: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and US President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the Atlantic Charter, which outlined a vision for the post-war world.
1945: It was publicly announced that Japan had agreed to an unconditional surrender, effectively ending World War II.
1947: Pakistan gained independence from British rule and became a sovereign state.
1969: British troops were deployed to Northern Ireland to intervene in the sectarian violence between Protestants and Roman Catholics, a period that would become known as The Troubles.
1975: The cult classic musical film The Rocky Horror Picture Show premiered in London.
2003: A massive power outage struck the northeastern United States and parts of Canada, leaving millions of people without electricity.