Source: HistoryNet.com
1813: The earliest known printed reference to the United States by the nickname "Uncle Sam" occurs in the Troy Post.
1888: An incubator is used for the first time on a premature infant.
1943: Beverley McLachlin, first woman to serve as Chief Justice of Canada, is born.
1953: Nikita Krushchev elected first secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
1977: Panama and US sign Torrijos-Carter Treaties to transfer control of the Panama Canal from the US to Panama at the end of the 20th century.
1979: ESPN, the Entertainment and Sports Programing Network, debuts.
1986: Desmond Tutu becomes first black leader of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa (now the Anglican Church of South Africa).
2004: Hurricane Ivan damages 90% of buildings on the island of Grenada; 39 die in the Category 5 storm.
2008: US Government assumes conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the country’s two largest mortgage financing companies, during the subprime mortgage crisis.