• 1609 – English explorer Henry Hudson sails into the river that now bears his name
• 1918 – U.S. forces led by Gen. John J. Pershing launch a successful attack on the German-occupied St. Mihiel salient north of Verdun, France, during World War I
• 1938 – In a speech in Nuremberg, Adolf Hitler demands self-determination for the Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia
• 1943 – German paratroopers rescue former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from the hotel where he was being held prisoner by his own government
• 1944 – U.S. Army troops enter Germany for the first time during World War II, near Trier
• 1953 – Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy marries Jacqueline Lee Bouvier in Newport, R.I
• 1954 – "Lassie" makes its TV debut on CBS
• 1959 – "Bonanza" premieres on NBC
• 1992 –  Police in Peru capture the founder of the Shining Path guerrilla movement, Abimael Guzman
• 2000 – Dutch lawmakers give same-sex couples the right to marry and adopt children
• 2001 –  President George W. Bush label the previous day's terrorist attacks "acts of war" and ask Congress for $20 billion to rebuild and recover
• 2002 – President George W. Bush tells skeptical world leaders at the United Nations to confront the "grave and gathering danger" of Saddam Hussein's Iraq or stand aside as the United States acted
• 2002 – Three former Tyco International Ltd. executives are charged with looting the conglomerate of hundreds of millions of dollars
• 2003 –  The U.N. Security Council ended 11 years of sanctions against Libya
• 2003 – Country musician Johnny Cash dies at age 71
• 2005 – Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael Brown resigns, three days after losing his onsite command of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort
• 2007 –Oil prices briefly topped a record $80 a barrel

Famous and Historical Birthdays - Say Happy Birthday to . . .

• George Jones (Singer)
• Peter Scolari (Actor)
• Ben Folds (Musician)
• Paul Walker (Actor)
• Yao Ming (Basketball Player)
• Jennifer Hudson (Singer / Actress)
• Emmy Rossum (Actress)