| 1998 | British auto manufacturer Rolls-Royce is purchased by Germany's BMW for $570 million.
|
| 1991 | Patricia Bowman accuses William Kennedy Smith, nephew of Senator Edward Kennedy, of rape at the Kennedy estate in Palm Beach, FL.
|
| 1996 | The funeral for former US senator Edmund Muskie takes place in Bethesda, MD.
|
1981 | 
US president Ronald Reagan is wounded after being shot by John Hinckley, Jr., outside a
Washington, DC, hotel.
(photo credit: NARA)
|
| 1956 | Mt. Nameless, an extinct Siberian volcano, erupts. |
1967 | 
The Beatles finish overdubs of guitars, bass, tambourine, and vocal tracks for With A Little Help From My Friends, a song that will ultimately appear on their Sergeant Pepper album, at EMI Studios in London.
(photo credit: Capitol Records)
|
| 1945 | Russia invades Austria during WWII.
|
| 1909 | The Queensboro Bridge opens to traffic in New York City.
|
| 1870 | African-American males are granted the right to vote as the 15th amendment to the US Constitution goes into effect.
|
| 1870 | Texas is admitted back to the Union following the end of the US Civil War.
|
| 1867 | The US and Russia reach agreement for the US to purchase the Alaska territory for $7.2 million.
|
| 1842 | Ether is first used as an anesthetic during surgery by Drs. Crawford and Long of Jefferson, GA.
|
| 1840 | 'Beau' Brummel, English fashion expert, dies.
|
| 1822 | Florida becomes a US territory.
|
