1777 - The Continental Congress approved the Articles of Confederation, precursor to the U.S. Constitution
1806 - Explorer Zebulon Pike spotted the mountaintop that became known as Pikes Peak.
1889 - Brazil's monarchy was overthrown.
1901 - Miller Reese patented an electrical hearing aid.
1920 - The League of Nations met for the first time in Geneva, Switzerland.
1926 - The National Broadcasting Co. (NBC) debuted with a radio network of 24 stations. The first network radio broadcast was a four-hour "spectacular."
1939 - U.S. President Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC.
1940 - The first 75,000 men were called to Armed Forces duty under peacetime conscription.
1965 - The Soviet probe, Venera 3, was launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. On March 1, 1966, it became the first unmanned spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet when it crashed on Venus.
1966 - The flight of Gemini 12 ended successfully as astronauts James A. Lovell and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. splashed down safely in the Atlantic Ocean.
1969 - In Washington, DC, a quarter of a million protesters staged a peaceful demonstration against the Vietnam War. 1983 - The British government announced that U.S.-made cruise missiles had arrived at the Greenham Common air base amid protests.
1986 - A government tribunal in Nicaragua convicted American Eugene Hasenfus of charges related to his role in delivering arms to Contra rebels. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison and was pardoned a month later.
1988 - The Palestine National Council, the legislative body of the PLO, proclaimed the establishment of an independent Palestinian state at the close of a four-day conference in Algiers.
1992 - Richard Petty drove in the final race of his 35-year career.
1993 - A judge in Mineola, NY, sentenced Joey Buttafuoco to six months in jail for the statutory rape of Amy Fisher. Fisher was serving a prison sentence for shooting and wounding Buttafuoco's wife, Mary Jo.
1995 - Texaco agreed to pay $176 million to settle a race-discrimination lawsuit.
1999 - Representatives from China and the United States signed a major trade agreement that involved China's membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO).
2000 - Three police officers from the Rampart division of the Los Angeles police department were convicted on several counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice. One other officer was acquitted. The case was the first major case against the anti-gang unit.
2005 - In Amiens, France, Isabelle Dinoire became the first person to undergo a partial face transplant. She had been attacked by a dog earlier in the year.
2006 - Andy Warhol's painting of Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong sold for $17.4 million. At the same auction "Orange Marilyn" sold for $16.2 million and "Sixteen Jackies" sold for $15.6 million.
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