- 1990 – Mikhail Gorbachev won re-election as the leader of the Soviet Communist Party.
- 1991 – Boris Yeltsin took the oath of office as the first elected president of the Russian republic.
- 1991 – U.S. President Bush lifted economic sanctions against South Africa, citing its “profound transformation” toward racial equality.
- 1993 – Kenyan runner Yobes Ondieki became the first man to run 10,000 meters in less than 27 minutes.
- 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.
- 1998 – The World Bank approved a $700 million loan to Thailand.
- 1998 – The U.S. military delivered the remains of Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Blassie to his family in St. Louis. He had been placed in Arlington Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknown in 1984. His identity had been confirmed with DNA tests.
- 1999 – The heads of six African nations that had troops in the Democratic Republic of the Congo signed a cease-fire agreement that would end the civil war in that nation.
- 2002 – Peter Paul Rubens’ painting “The Massacre of the Innocents” sold for $76.2 million at Sotheby’s.
- 2015 – In South Carolina, the Confederate flag was removed for the last time from the Capitol grounds and taken to a state military museum.
- 2017 – Iraqi Civil War: Mosul is declared fully liberated from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
- 2019 – The last Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the line in Puebla, Mexico. The last of 5,961 “Special Edition” cars will be exhibited in a museum.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Aleksandar Tunchev, Bulgarian footballer
- 1982 – Alex Arrowsmith, American guitarist and producer
- 1982 – Juliya Chernetsky, Ukrainian-American television host
- 1982 – Sebastian Mila, Polish footballer
- 1982 – Jeffrey Walker, Australian actor and director
- 1983 – Giuseppe De Feudis, Italian footballer
- 1983 – Matthew Egan, Australian footballer
- 1983 – Gabi, Spanish footballer
- 1983 – Kim Hee-chul, Korean entertainer
- 1983 – Joelson José Inácio, Brazilian footballer
- 1983 – Doug Kramer, Filipino basketball player
- 1983 – Anthony Watmough, Australian rugby league player
- 1984 – Nikolaos Mitrou, Greek footballer
- 1985 – Park Chu-young, South Korean footballer
- 1985 – B. J. Crombeen, American ice hockey player
- 1985 – Mario Gómez, German footballer
- 1988 – Antonio Brown, American football player
- 1988 – Heather Hemmens, American actress, director, and producer
- 1988 – Sarah Walker, New Zealand BMX rider
- 1990 – Adam Reynolds, Australian rugby league player
- 1990 – Trent Richardson, American footballer
- 1990 – Chiyonokuni Toshiki, Japanese sumo wrestler
- 1991 – Daishōmaru Shōgo, Japanese sumo wrestler
- 1999 – April Ivy, Portuguese composer and singer
- 2001 – Isabela Moner, American actress