1775 American Revolutionary forces capture Montreal
1789 In a letter to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy, Benjamin Franklin writes "in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes"
1839 Last bull run in Britain as the Stamford bull run ends after 700 years
1856 The Great Bell of Big Ben first chimes at the foot of the still-unfinished clock tower outside the Palace of Westminster
1907 French bicycle maker Paul Cornu flies the first twin-rotor helicopter, lifting 1.5 m (5 ft) off the ground for 20 seconds
1927 New York - New Jersey Holland Tunnel, 1st twin-tube underwater auto tunnel, opens
1937 NBC forms the first full-sized symphony orchestra exclusively for radio
1940 Walt Disney's animated film "Fantasia," starring Leopold Stokowski, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Mickey Mouse, and ballet-dancing hippopotamuses, premieres at the Broadway Theatre, NYC
1941 U-81 torpedoes British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal near Gibraltar
1946 Scientist Vincent Schaefer produces the first artificial snow by dropping pellets of dry ice from an airplane into a supercooled cloud over Mt. Greylock, Massachusetts
1954 Dentist Fred Slack invents false fingernails after cutting his nail at work and creating an artificial nail using dental acrylic resin and aluminum foil
1960 Fire in movie theater kills 152 children in Amude, Spain
1967 Carl Stokes sworn-in as 1st major city black mayor (Cleveland, Ohio)
1968 As a rookie, future Basketball Hall of Fame forward Elvin Hayes scores 54 points in San Diego Rockets' 122-120 win over Detroit Pistons, a career-high
1982 Vietnam Veterans Memorial opens in Washington, D.C., featuring the names of over 58,000 US soldiers killed or missing in the Vietnam War
1983 Alvin "Junior" Samples, American comedian and country singer (Hee Haw), dies of a heart attack at 57
1986 US President Reagan confesses weapon sales to Iran
1995 "GoldenEye", 17th James Bond film released, starring Pierce Brosnan for the first time
2001 War on Terrorism: In the first such act since World War II, US President George W. Bush signs an executive order allowing military tribunals against foreigners suspected of connections to terrorist acts or planned acts on the United States.
2016 Leon Russell, American musician and singer-songwriter (Carny), dies at 74
2017 First Barbie doll to wear a hijab, modeled on Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad unveiled in New York 🤮
2017 World's earliest winemaking is uncovered in Khramis Didi Gora, Georgia, in clay pots from 6,000 BC
2020 Paul Hornung, American College Football Hall of Fame halfback (Heisman Trophy 1956, Notre Dame; Pro Bowl 1959, 60; Green Bay Packers), dies from dementia complications at 84
2021 Sam Huff, American College / Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker (5 x Pro Bowl; First-team All-Pro 1958, 59; NY Giants, Washington Redskins), dies from dementia complications at 87
2022 Four Idaho university students stabbed and killed in their home in Moscow, Idaho. Suspect Bryan Kohberger arrested seven weeks later.
2023 Kenya holds its first national tree-planting holiday, aiming to plant 100 million trees as part of a climate change initiative to plant 15 billion trees by 2032
2024 World's largest coral, larger than a blue whale and 300 years old, is found off the Solomon Islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean