1963
Kennedy assassination
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas.
-
1497
Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama became the first navigator to sail around the Cape of Good Hope in his search for a sea route to India.
-
1718
Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard the pirate, was killed off the east coast of North America.
-
1842
Mount St. Helens in Washington state erupted. Ash fallout reached as far as 48 mi away.
-
1906
"S-O-S" was adopted as a distress signal at the International Radio Telegraphic Convention in Berlin.
-
1943
President Franklin Roosevelt, British prime minister Winston Churchill, and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo to discuss measures for defeating Japan.
-
1990
Margaret Thatcher announced her resignation as prime minister of the United Kingdom.
