Today:
1666: The Great Fire of London ends. The massive fire had raged for four days, destroying a large portion of the city.
1774: The First Continental Congress assembles in Philadelphia. Delegates from 12 of the 13 American colonies met to discuss their response to the British “Intolerable Acts.”
1836: Sam Houston is elected as the first president of the Republic of Texas. This came after Texas declared its independence from Mexico.
1882: The first Labor Day parade in the United States is held in New York City. The event was organized by the Central Labor Union.
1905: The Treaty of Portsmouth is signed, officially ending the Russo-Japanese War. The peace treaty was mediated by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt.
1957: Jack Kerouac’s influential novel “On the Road” is published. The book became a defining work of the Beat Generation.
1972: The Munich massacre begins at the Summer Olympics. Members of the Palestinian militant group Black September took members of the Israeli Olympic team hostage.
1975: An assassination attempt is made on U.S. President Gerald Ford in Sacramento, California. Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson, was responsible.
1977: The Voyager 1 spacecraft is launched by NASA. Its mission was to study the outer planets of the solar system.
1997: Mother Teresa dies in Calcutta, India, at the age of 87. She was a renowned Roman Catholic nun and missionary who founded the Missionaries of Charity.