1812 – “Old Ironsides” (the USS Constitution) won a battle against the British frigate Guerriere east of Nova Scotia.

1848 – The discovery of gold in California was reported by the New York Herald.

1856 – Gail Borden received a patent for his process of condensing milk by vacuum.

1919 – Afghanistan gained independence from Britain.

1929 – “Amos and Andy,” the radio comedy program, made its debut on NBC starring Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll.

1934 – Adolf Hitler was approved for sole executive power in Germany as Fuehrer.

1940 – The new Civil Aeronautics Administration awarded honorary license #1 to Orville Wright.

1942 – About 6,000 Canadian and British soldiers launched a raid against the Germans at Dieppe, France. They suffered about 50 percent casualties.

1960 – Francis Gary Powers, an American U-2 pilot, was convicted of espionage in Moscow.

1960 – Two dogs were launched in a satellite into Earth’s orbit by the Soviet Union.

1962 – Homero Blancas shot a 55 at the Premier Invitational Golf Tournament held in Longview, TX. It was the lowest score in U.S. competitive golf history.

1974 – During an anti-American protest in Nicosia, Cyprus, U.S. Ambassador Rodger P. Davies was fatally wounded by a bullet while in the American embassy.

1981 – Two Libyan SU-22s were shot down by two U.S. Navy F-14 fighters in the Gulf of Sidra.

1991 – Soviet hard-liners announced that President Mikhail Gorbachev had been removed from power. Gorbachev returned to power two days later.

1998 – The first piece of the 351 foot bronze statue of Christopher Columbus arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

1999 – In Belgrade, thousands of Serbs attended a rally to demand the resignation of Yugoslavia’s President Slobodan Milosevic.

2004 – Google Inc. stock began selling on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The initial price was set at $85 and ended the day at $100.34 with more than 22 million shares traded.