1099 During the First Crusade, the siege of Jerusalem begins.
1753 The British Museum, the world's oldest public museum, is founded.
1775 The United Colonies are renamed the United States of America (USA).
1821 The Sacred Band, under Alexander Ypsilantis, is defeated at Drăgășani by superior Ottoman forces.
1862 Britain and the United States agree to curb the slave trade.
1892 J. F. Palmer patents the bicycle with a metal chain drive.
1903 In Germany, Marie and Pierre Curie discover a new element, polonium.
1917 Comedian and actor Dean Martin is born. Together with Jerry Lewis, he would form one of the most famous comedy duos in cinema history.
1923 A broad National Assembly in Nicosia approves a resolution in favour of the union of Cyprus with Greece.
1958 Prince, the stage name of Roger Nelson, American rock musician, is born.
1965 Sony unveils its new invention, the video recorder. Initial price: US$995.
1979 The first direct elections to the European Parliament are held in the nine member states of the European Economic Community (EEC).
1992 Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew appeals to the people of Imbros to return to their ancestral homes during his visit to the island, where only 300 Greeks now remain.
1994 In Sweden, Parliament approves legislation allowing same-sex couples to marry, although without the same privileges enjoyed by heterosexual couples.
2002 Journalist, author and screenwriter Malvina Karali dies at the age of 50.
2006 Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, is killed following an air strike by US forces.
2015 English actor Christopher Lee dies.
