1612 – The Battle of Swally takes place, which loosens the Portuguese Empire’s hold on India.
1877 – Thomas Edison demonstrates his phonograph for the first time.
1947 – Partition Plan: The United Nations General Assembly approves a plan for the partition of Palestine.
1961 – Project Mercury: Mercury-Atlas 5 Mission: Enos, a chimpanzee, is launched into space. The spacecraft orbits the Earth twice and splashes down off the coast of Puerto Rico.
1963 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson establishes the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
1963 – I Want to Hold Your Hand, recorded on October 17, 1963, is released by the Beatles in the United Kingdom.
1972 – Atari releases Pong, the first commercially successful video game.
1986 – The Surinamese military attacks the village of Moiwana during the Suriname Guerrilla War, killing at least 39 civilians, mostly women and children.
1987 – North Korean agents plant a bomb on Korean Air Flight 858, which kills all 115 passengers and crew.
2007 – The Armed Forces of the Philippines lay siege to the Peninsula Manila after soldiers led by Senator Antonio Trillanes stage a mutiny.