1632 - The Swedish warship *Vasa* sinks minutes after setting sail, killing 30 sailors.
1776 - North Carolina ratifies the Articles of Confederation, becoming the first state to do so.
1850 - Danish poet and philosopher Søren Kierkegaard dies at the age of 42.
1907 - Oklahoma becomes the 46th state of the union.
1922 - Tutankhamun’s tomb is discovered by Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings.
1940 - The United Kingdom defeats Italy to secure the Mediterranean.
1945 - The International Military Tribunal begins judging some 20 top Nazis in Nuremberg.
1960 - The first successful U.S. presidential debate takes place between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
1962 - The Pentagon is declared complete, having been built in only 16.5 months.
1965 - The Soviet satellite *Venera 3* becomes the first man-made spacecraft to crash-land on Venus.
1973 - The Skylab space station is launched by NASA.
1988 - Estonia declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
1989 - Salvadoran guerrillas launch the first major rebel offensive against the government since 1981.
2000 - Bill Clinton becomes the second U.S. president to be impeached.
2011 - The International Space Station sets the world record for longest continuous human habitation in space, having been manned for 10 years, breaking the previous record of 9 years, 357 days set by Mir on 16th November 1999.
2012 - NASA’s Curiosity rover lands on Mars, where it explores for nine years.
2013 - The first bitcoin transaction reaches the value of $1,000.