- 1910 - King Edward VII of Britain passed away.
- 1919 - American children's author L. Frank Baum, known for the fictional land of Oz, passed away. The film adaptation "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" became a classic.
- 1932 - French President Paul Doumer was assassinated by a Russian immigrant in Paris.
- 1937 - The German airship Hindenburg caught fire upon arriving in Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 36 people while 62 others survived.
- 1954 - British athlete Roger Bannister became the first person to run a mile in under 4 minutes, recording a time of 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds.
- 1968 - Street fighting took over the Left Bank in Paris as students clashed with police for control of the fashionable Saint-Germain street.
- 1992 - The legendary film star Marlene Dietrich, known for her role as cabaret singer Lola Lola in "The Blue Angel," passed away after making her mark in Hollywood.
- 1994 - The Channel Tunnel (the English Channel) connecting Britain and France by rail was opened.
- 2001 - The world's first space tourist, Dennis Tito, returned to Earth with two Russian astronauts after a historic journey that cost Tito $14 million.
- 2002 - Dutch anti-immigrant politician Pim Fortuyn was shot dead while leaving a radio interview in Hilversum.
- 2007 - Nicolas Sarkozy was elected President of France, defeating socialist candidate Ségolène Royal by a comfortable margin and extending the right's grip on power for 12 years.
