Shannon Eastin becomes the first woman to officiate an NFL game.
Russian president Boris Yeltsin fires his prime minister, Sergei Stepashin, and for the fourth time fires his entire cabinet.
As a direct result of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon becomes the first president of the United States to resign from office. Vice President Gerald Ford becomes president.
World War II: Nagasaki is devastated when an atomic bomb, Fat Man, is dropped by the United States B-29 Bockscar. Thirty-five thousand people are killed outright, including 23,200–28,200 Japanese war workers, 2,000 Korean forced workers, and 150 Japa...
The United States Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council release posters featuring Smokey Bear for the first time.
World War II: Continuation War: The Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive, the largest offensive launched by Soviet Union against Finland during the Second World War, ends to a strategic stalemate. Both Finnish and Soviet troops at the Finnish front dug to d...
World War II: Battle of Savo Island: Allied naval forces protecting their amphibious forces during the initial stages of the Battle of Guadalcanal are surprised and defeated by an Imperial Japanese Navy cruiser force.
Summer Olympics: Jesse Owens wins his fourth gold medal at the games.
A train robbery takes place in Kakori, near Lucknow, India, by the Indian independence revolutionaries, against the British government.
The first Boy Scout encampment concludes at Brownsea Island in southern England.
Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
The first International Congress of Mathematicians is held in Zürich, Switzerland.
Thomas Edison receives a patent for a two-way telegraph.
American Indian Wars: Battle of the Big Hole: A small band of Nez Percé Indians clash with the United States Army.
The Webster–Ashburton Treaty is signed, establishing the United States–Canada border east of the Rocky Mountains.
American Indian Wars: The Creek sign the Treaty of Fort Jackson, giving up huge parts of Alabama and Georgia.
Napoleon annexes Westphalia as part of the First French Empire.
The First Anglo-Powhatan War begins in colonial Virginia.
Quilon, the first Indian Christian Diocese, is erected by Pope John XXII; the French-born Jordanus is appointed the first Bishop.