1942 - The first land attack by the United States in World War II began in the Pacific, on the southern Solomon Islands, at Guadalcanal.
1957 - Oliver Hardy, partner of Stanley Laurel in one of the most famous comedy duos on screen, passed away.
1960 - Ivory Coast announced its independence from France.
1990 - The African National Congress, led by Nelson Mandela, suspended its armed struggle in a dramatic move that paved the way for talks to end apartheid in South Africa.
1998 - Car bombs exploded at the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing at least 213 people in Nairobi and 11 in Dar es Salaam. More than 5,000 were injured, and followers of the Islamist militant Osama bin Laden were later convicted in New York.
2000 - Jean-Michel Rossi, the founder of the main separatist guerrilla group in Corsica, was assassinated along with his partner Jean-Claude Fratacci in the town of L'Île-Rousse.
2006 - BP Plc shut down the giant Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska due to pipeline damage, prompting the U.S. government to consider releasing emergency supplies as prices rose.
2007 - Raul Hilberg, who spent over half a century researching the Holocaust and was known for his comprehensive study "The Destruction of the European Jews," passed away.
2017 - Alberto Contador announced his retirement from professional cycling.
