1787: The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia approves the constitution for the United States of America.
1796: President George Washington delivers his "Farewell Address" to Congress before concluding his second term in office.
1902: U.S. troops are sent to Panama to keep train lines open over the isthmus as Panamanian nationals struggle for independence from Colombia.
1916: Germany's "Red Baron," Manfred von Richthofen, wins his first aerial combat.
1939: With the German army already attacking western Poland, the Soviet Union launches an invasion of eastern Poland.
1942: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill meets with Soviet Premier Josef Stalin in Moscow as the German Army rams into Stalingrad.
1959: The X-15 rocket plane makes its first flight.
1962: The first federal suit to end public school segregation is filed by the U.S. Justice Department.
1976: The Space Shuttle is unveiled to the public.
1978: Egypt and Israel sign the Camp David Accords.
1980: Nationwide independent trade union Solidarity established in Poland.
1983: Vanessa Williams becomes the first black Miss America; relinquished crown early after scandal over nude photos.
2001: The New York Stock Exchange reopens for the first time since the September 11 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers; longest period of closure since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
2006: Alaska's Fourpeaked Mountain erupts for the first time in at least 10,000 years.
2011: Occupy Wall Street movement calling for greater social and economic equality begins in New York City's Zuccotti Park, coining the phrase "We are the 99%."
Source: HistoryNet.com