1934 - During the "Night of the Long Knives" in Germany, Hitler executed his political opponents, including Sturmabteilung leader Ernst Röhm and Kurt von Schleicher.
1936 - American novelist Margaret Mitchell published "Gone with the Wind."
1936 - Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia appeared before the League of Nations to seek help after Italy invaded his country.
1960 - The Republic of the Congo gained independence from Belgium.
1974 - Soviet ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov announced his defection and unwillingness to return to his country while on tour in Canada with the Bolshoi Ballet.
1985 - 39 Americans held captive on TWA Flight were released after 17 days in Beirut.
1997 - Britain handed Hong Kong back to China at midnight.
2001 - Legendary guitarist Chet Atkins, who helped pioneer the "Nashville Sound" of pop-flavored country music filled with strings, passed away at the age of 77.
2002 - The Brazilian national football team won the World Cup in Germany.
2004 - NASA's Cassini spacecraft slid through Saturn's rings and entered orbit, settling in for the most detailed study ever of the sixth planet from the Sun.
2015 - An Indonesian military transport plane crashed in Medan, North Sumatra.
