Today:
461: Libius Severus is declared emperor of the Western Roman Empire, although the true power rests with the military commander Ricimer.
1493: Christopher Columbus lands on an island in the Caribbean, naming it San Juan Bautista (later renamed Puerto Rico), during his second voyage to the New World.
1620: The English ship the Mayflower arrives at Cape Cod, Massachusetts, carrying the Pilgrims who would later establish Plymouth Colony.
1794: The United States and Great Britain sign the Jay Treaty (formally the Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation), which settled outstanding issues remaining from the American Revolutionary War.
1863: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
1919: The United States Senate rejects the Treaty of Versailles, failing to ratify the agreement that officially ended World War I and provided for the League of Nations.
1942: The Soviet Red Army launches Operation Uranus, a massive counter-offensive that encircles the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad during World War II.
1969: Apollo 12 astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean make the second crewed landing on the Moon, setting up scientific instruments.
1977: Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel, where he addresses the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) in a historic push for peace.
1978: The Jonestown Massacre occurs in Guyana, as cult leader Jim Jones leads over 900 followers of the Peoples Temple to a mass murder-suicide by drinking cyanide-laced punch.