- 1990 – Iraqi troops surrounded foreign missions in Kuwait.
- 1991 – Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as the head of the Communist Party.
- 1992 – China and South Korea established diplomatic relations.
- 1995 – Microsoft’s “Windows 95” went on sale.
- 1998 – U.S. officials cited a soil sample as part of the evidence that a Sudan plant was producing precursors to the VX nerve gas. And, therefore made it a target for U.S. missiles on August 20, 1998.
- 1998 – A donation of 24 beads was made, from three parties, to the Indian Museum of North America at the Crazy Horse Memorial. The beads are said to be those that were used in 1626 to buy Manhattan from the Indians.
- 2001 – In McAllen, TX, Bridgestone/Firestone agreed to settle out of court and pay a reported $7.5 million to a family in a rollover accident in their Ford Explorer.
- 2001 – The remains of nine American servicemen killed in the Korean War were returned to the U.S. The bodies were found about 60 miles north of Pyongyang. It was estimated that it would be a year before the identies of the soldiers would be known.
- 2001 – U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly was randomly picked to take over the Microsoft monopoly case. The judge was to decide how Microsoft should be punished for illegally trying to squelch its competitors.
- 2001 – NASA announced that operation of the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite would end by September 30th due to budget restrictions. Though the satellite is best known for monitoring a hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica, it was designed to provide information about the upper atmosphere by measuring its winds, temperatures, chemistry and energy received from the sun.
- 2006 – The planet Pluto was reclassified as a “dwarf planet” by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Pluto’s status was changed due to the IAU’s new rules for an object qualifying as a planet. Pluto met two of the three rules because it orbits the sun and is large enough to assume a nearly round shape. However, since Pluto has an oblong orbit and overlaps the orbit of Neptune it disqualified Pluto as a planet.
- 2010 – In San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico, 72 illegal immigrants are killed by Los Zetas and eventually found dead by Mexican authorities.
- 2010 – Henan Airlines Flight 8387 crashes at Yichun Lindu Airport in Yichun, Heilongjiang, China, killing 44 out of the 96 people on board.[
- 2016 – An earthquake strikes Central Italy with a magnitude of 6.2, with aftershocks felt as far as Rome and Florence.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Chad Michael Murray, American model and actor
- 1982 – José Bosingwa, Portuguese footballer
- 1982 – Kim Källström, Swedish footballer
- 1982 – Glen Atle Larsen, Norwegian footballer
- 1983 – Brett Gardner, American baseball player
- 1983 – Marcel Goc, German ice hockey player
- 1983 – George Perris, Greek-French singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1984 – Erin Molan, Australian journalist and sportscaster
- 1984 – Charlie Villanueva, American basketball player
- 1986 – Nick Adenhart, American baseball player (d. 2009)
- 1986 – Joseph Akpala, Nigerian footballer
- 1986 – Arian Foster, American football player
- 1986 – Fabiano Santacroce, Italian footballer
- 1987 – Anže Kopitar, Slovenian ice hockey player
- 1987 – Daichi Miura, Japanese singer-songwriter, dancer, and choreographer
- 1988 – Rupert Grint, English actor
- 1988 – Manu Ma’u, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1988 – Joel Thompson, Australian rugby league player
- 1988 – Maya Yoshida, Japanese footballer
- 1989 – Reynaldo, Brazilian footballer
- 1989 – Rocío Igarzábal, Argentinian actress and singer
- 1990 – Juan Pedro Lanzani, Argentinian actor and singer
- 1991 – Wang Zhen, Chinese race walker
- 1992 – Jemerson, Brazilian footballer
- 1993 – Allen Robinson, American football player
- 1995 – Lady Amelia Windsor, member of the British royal family
- 1996 – Camila Giangreco Campiz, Paraguayan tennis player
- 2001 – Mildred Maldonado, Mexican rhythmic gymnast[