- 1990 – Military action was authorized by the United Nations to enforce the trade embargo that had been placed on Iraq after their invasion of Kuwait.
- 1991 – Byelorussia declared independence from the Soviet Union.
- 1992 – It was reported by researchers that cigarette smoking significantly increased the risk of developing cataracts.
- 1993 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 3,652.09, an all-time high.
- 1995 – Harry Wu, human rights activist, returned to the United States. He said the spying case against him in China was “all lies.”
- 1997 – The tobacco industry agreed to an $11.3 billion settlement with the state of Florida.
- 1998 – A survey released said that 1/3 of Americans use the Internet.
- 2001 – American singer Aaliyah and several members of her record company are killed as their overloaded aircraft crashes shortly after takeoff from Marsh Harbour Airport, Bahamas.
- 2006 – Former Prime Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Lazarenko is sentenced to nine years imprisonment for money laundering, wire fraud, and extortion.
- 2012 – Voyager 1 spacecraft enters interstellar space becoming the first man-made object to do so.
- 2017 – Hurricane Harvey makes landfall in Texas as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the United States since 2004. Over the next few days, the storm causes catastrophic flooding throughout much of eastern Texas, killing 106 people and causing $125 billion in damage.
- 2017 – The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army launches its second large-scale attack at the Bangladesh–Myanmar border, prompting a massive military crackdown on Rohingya people by the Myanmar Army.
Celebrating BIrthday Today
- 1981 – Rachel Bilson, American actress
- 1981 – Jan-Berrie Burger, Namibian cricketer
- 1981 – Camille Pin, French tennis player
- 1982 – Jung Jung-suk, South Korean footballer (d. 2011)
- 1983 – James Rossiter, English race car driver
- 1984 – Florian Mohr, German footballer
- 1984 – Anya Monzikova, Russian-American model and actress
- 1986 – Rodney Ferguson, American footballer
- 1987 – Stacey Farber, Canadian actress
- 1987 – Velimir Jovanović, Serbian footballer
- 1987 – Blake Lively, American model and actress
- 1987 – Amy Macdonald, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1987 – Justin Upton, American baseball player
- 1987 – Adam Warren, American baseball player
- 1987 – James Wesolowski, Australian footballer
- 1988 – Angela Park, Brazilian-American golfer
- 1989 – Hiram Mier, Mexican footballer
- 1990 – Max Muncy, American baseball player
- 1992 – Miyabi Natsuyaki, Japanese singer and actress
- 1992 – Ricardo Rodriguez, Swiss footballer
- 1994 – Edmunds Augstkalns, Latvian ice hockey player
- 1998 – China Anne McClain, American actress and singer