1736 – James Watt, inventor and mechanical engineer whose work laid the foundations of steam-powered machinery, is born.
1764 – The first recorded reference to a letter bomb appears. Danish historian Bolle Luxdorph notes in his diary that Colonel Poulsen received a package at his home which exploded upon opening, injuring him.
1828 – Alexander Ypsilantis, military officer, scholar and leader of the Filiki Etaireia, dies.
1829 – Premiere of Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
1839 – Birth of French painter Paul Cézanne, whose work bridged Impressionism and Cubism
1920 – Birth of Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, former Secretary-General of the United Nations.
1921 – Birth of writer Patricia Highsmith. Her novel The Talented Mr Ripley was adapted into a highly successful film in 1999.
1938 – Klaus Barbie, head of the Nazis in Lyon, France, is arrested on charges of crimes against humanity.
1943 – Birth of Janis Joplin, iconic blues and rock singer.
1946 – Birth of Dolly Parton, country music singer, songwriter and actress.
1953 – Greek women vote for the first time, during elections held in Thessaloniki.
1967 – It is announced that 8,000 Greek workers in West Germany have already been laid off due to the economic crisis, while Bonn acknowledges that a further 70,000 of the 194,000 Greek workers employed in West German factories are at risk.
1976 – Former members of The Beatles reject a $30 million offer to reunite and perform a single concert.
1977 – An estimated 12.7 million people gather at a religious festival in India, considered the largest mass gathering in history.
1979 – In Tehran, one million people take part in a demonstration in support of Ruhollah Khomeini.
1983 – Apple announces the development of a personal computer.
1991 – Concerns are raised in several countries over the use of the Incirlik Air Base by the US and its allies during the Gulf War.
1993 – Turkish Prime Minister Süleyman Demirel announces Turkey’s decision to intervene militarily in a potential conflict in the Balkans.
2007 – Seventeen-year-old Turkish extremist Ogün Samast murders Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.
2012 – The FBI shuts down the file-sharing website Megaupload, prompting retaliatory cyberattacks on government websites by Anonymous.