1926 - The American actor, Italian-born Rudolph Valentino, passed away at the age of 31. Women regarded him as the first "Latin lover" on the silver screen, and he starred in films such as "The Sheikh," "Blood and Sand," and "The Eagle."
1939 - Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact, which paved the way for the German invasion of Poland and the start of World War II.
1942 - The Battle of Stalingrad began during World War II. The battle concluded with the surrender of German forces after six months.
1980 - The Polish communist government agreed to negotiate directly with striking shipworkers in Gdańsk.
2003 - John Geoghan, a priest from the Boston area, was convicted of child molestation and was a central figure in the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal in the United States; he was killed in prison by a fellow inmate.
2005 - Israel completed the withdrawal of 15,000 Jewish settlers and supporters from the Palestinian Gaza Strip.
2005 - Broderick Crawford, the American actor with a deep voice who portrayed a black man wrongfully accused of rape in the classic film "To Kill a Mockingbird," passed away at the age of 78.
2006 - Austrian kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch escaped after eight years in captivity.
2009 - A winning lottery ticket for the largest prize in Europe was sold in the Tuscan village of Bagnone.
2011 - Libyan rebels celebrated in Gaddafi's complex in Tripoli.
