- The world's first drunk driver was arrested. (1897) George Smith had a few too many and drove his taxi cab into a building in London, England. He was arrested and fined 25 shillings for his crime. The US didn't establish drunk driving laws until 1910.
- Hamida Djandoubi became the last person in the world to be executed by guillotine. (1977) Djandoubi was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in France, the last country to use the guillotine.
- The Large Hadron Collider, the largest particle collider in the world, shot its first proton beams. (2008) It was the first test of the particle collider &mash; it fired two proton beams in a 17-mile (about 27-kilometer) circle underground in Geneva, Switzerland.
- Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold Jr. were sentenced to life in prison for a "thrill" killing. (1924) The two affluent college students murdered a 14-year-old boy named Bobby Franks in an attempt to commit the perfect crime.
- New York City's first city-owned subway opened. (1932) The first two subways to go into operation were privately-owned. The city wanted to compete with the two private companies and eventually bought them out in 1940.
- The longest running prime-time drama series in US television history debuted. (1955) Gunsmoke ran for 20 seasons — 635 shows — between 1955 and 1975.
- The 55 Pandora asteroid was discovered. (1858) American astronomer George Mary Searle discovered 55 Pandora, one of the brightest asteroid belts and the second largest E-type asteroid. Searle also is known for discovering six galaxies.
- The first lockstitch-designed sewing machine was patented in the US. (1846) American inventor Elias Howe was awarded the first US sewing machine patent for the lockstitch sewing machine. The first patent for a sewing machine of any kind in the US was awarded in 1842 to John Greenough.
- The 190th country joined the United Nations. (2002) Switzerland became a member of the world peace-keeping group. The United Nations has 192 members — the last to join was Montenegro in 2006.
- Istanbul was hit by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake, which killed more than 10,000 people. (1509) The earthquake, known as "The Lesser Judgement Day," produced aftershocks for 45 days and a tsunami; more than 100 mosques and 1,000 homes were also destroyed.