Today:
1666 – The Great Fire of London was finally brought largely under control after burning for several days. The fire destroyed more than 13,000 houses, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and much of the medieval city.
1698 – Russia’s Peter the Great imposed a tax on beards as part of his campaign to modernize Russian society along Western European lines. Men who paid the tax were issued tokens permitting them to keep their beards.
1774 – The First Continental Congress convened at Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia. Delegates from 12 of the 13 American colonies met to coordinate their response to Britain’s increasingly restrictive policies.
1836 – Sam Houston was elected the first president of the Republic of Texas. He had commanded the Texan army to victory over Mexico at the Battle of San Jacinto earlier that year.
1882 – The first Labor Day parade in the United States was held in New York City. Thousands of workers marched from City Hall to Union Square in support of organized labor.
1905 – The Treaty of Portsmouth was signed, formally ending the Russo-Japanese War. U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt helped mediate the negotiations and later received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
1914 – The First Battle of the Marne began during World War I. French and British forces halted the German advance toward Paris, helping prevent a quick German victory on the Western Front.
1972 – Eleven members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage by members of the Palestinian group Black September at the Munich Olympics. The crisis ended the following day with the deaths of all 11 Israeli hostages.
1975 – Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson, attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford in Sacramento, California. Her pistol did not fire, and Ford was unharmed.
1977 – NASA launched Voyager 1 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a mission to explore the outer planets. After spectacular encounters with Jupiter and Saturn, it continued outward and eventually became the first human-made object to enter interstellar space.