Today:
30 B.C.: Cleopatra VII Philopator, the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, dies, reportedly by suicide.
1835: The city of Melbourne, Australia, is founded by settlers from Tasmania.
1862: The Second Battle of Bull Run (or Second Manassas) concludes in a decisive victory for the Confederate army during the American Civil War.
1905: Ty Cobb makes his major league debut with the Detroit Tigers, beginning a legendary and controversial baseball career.
1945: British forces liberate Hong Kong from Japanese occupation following the end of World War II.
1963: The Moscow–Washington hotline, a direct communication link between the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union, becomes operational.
1967: Thurgood Marshall is confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the first African American justice on the Supreme Court.
1983: Guion S. Bluford Jr. becomes the first African American to travel to space, serving as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.
1991: Azerbaijan declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
2021: The final U.S. military flight departs from Kabul, Afghanistan, marking the end of America’s longest war.