- The first US Census was completed. (1790) The US population was counted at 4 million people. In 2010, the US population is nearly 310 million people.
- A gunman killed 15 people at the University of Texas, the deadliest campus shooting in US history. (1966) Charles Whitman, who had earlier killed his wife and his mother, opened fire on the Austin campus, killing 15 and injuring 32. He was shot and killed by an Austin police officer. It was the deadliest campus shooting in US history until the "Virginia Tech massacre" in 2007.
- Anne Frank made the final entry in her famous diary. (1944) The Diary of a Young Girl, which has been translated into more than 60 languages, documented her experiences as a Jewish child hiding from the Nazis during World War II.
- Pete Rose's hitting streak ended at 44 games. (1978) It was the second longest hitting streak in Major League Baseball history, next to Joe DiMaggio, whose 56-game hitting streak record still stands.
- 8-year-old Alexandra Scott died - she inspired a nationwide fundraiser for cancer research in the US with her lemonade stand. (2004) She started her lemonade stand in 2000 to raise money to research the cancer that was killing her. $1 million US Dollars (USD) were raised by groups around the country before she died, and a foundation was created after her death, which has raised more than $30 million USD.
- The first Six Flags roller coaster park opened in the US. (1961) The first amusement park opened in Arlington, Texas. There now are more than 21 parks that host nearly 24 million visitors each year.
- MTV: Music Television launched in the US. (1981) The television station was the first of its kind - a 24-hour station playing only music videos. The first video showed was the Buggles' song, Video Killed the Radio Star.
- The first African slaves arrived in the US. (1619) The slaves were imported to Jamestown, Virginia. In 1863, US President Lincoln abolished slavery in the Confederate States with the Emancipation Proclamation; in 1865 the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution outlawed slavery throughout the US.
- The "Great Flood of 1993" peaked - it was the worst flood in US history. (1993) The Missouri and Mississippi rivers flooded in the US Midwest, causing damages totaling $15 billion US Dollars. The flood devastated more than 30,000 square miles (80,000 square kilometers) of land.
- The US bought the Panama Canal rights. (1902) The canal serves as an international maritime trade waterway. The canal was first used on August 15, 1914. In those days, about 1,000 ships would pass through each year; today, almost 15,000 ships traverse the canal per year.
- Adolf Hitler attended the Berlin Olympics opening ceremony and was greeted with 100,000 salutes from attendees. (1936) Hitler used the high-profile Olympics as propaganda to sway opinions of media journalists and people around the world, trying to overshadow his racist, militaristic persona.