| 1850 | | Vice President Millard Fillmore assumed the presidency, following the death of President Zachary Taylor. |
| 1890 | | Wyoming became the 44th state. |
| 1919 | | President Wilson personally delivered the Treaty of Versailles to the Senate and urged its ratification. |
| 1925 | | The official news agency of the Soviet Union, TASS, was established. |
| 1943 | | U.S. and British forces invaded Sicily during World War II. |
| 1951 | | Armistice talks aimed at ending the Korean conflict began at Kaesong. |
| 1962 | | The Telstar communications satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla. |
| 1973 | | The Bahamas became independent after three centuries of British colonial rule. |
| 1979 | | Conductor Arthur Fiedler, who had led the Boston Pops orchestra for a half-century, died in Brookline, Mass., at age 84. |
| 1985 | | Bowing to pressure from irate customers, the Coca-Cola Co. said it would resume selling old-formula Coke, while continuing to sell New Coke. |
| 1989 | | Mel Blanc, the ''man of a thousand voices,'' including cartoon characters Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig, died in Los Angeles at age 81. |
| 1991 | | Boris N. Yeltsin took the oath of office as the first elected president of the Russian republic. |
| 1991 | | President Bush lifted economic sanctions against South Africa, citing its ''profound transformation'' toward racial equality. |
| 1992 | | A federal judge in Miami sentenced former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega, convicted of drug and racketeering charges, to 40 years in prison. |
| 1995 | | Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was freed from almost six years of house arrest in Yangon, Myanmar. |
| 1997 | | Scientists in London said DNA from a Neanderthal skeleton supported a theory that all humanity descended from an ''African Eve'' 100,000 to 200,000 years ago. |
| 1999 | | The U.S. women's soccer team won the World Cup, beating China 5-4 on penalty kicks after 120 minutes of scoreless play at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. |
