1997 The United Kingdom returned Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China

1921 The Communist Party of China (CPC) was formed, and Chen Duxiu was elected its leader

1807 Innovation of the steamboat

1903 Innovation of the aeroplane

1974 President Richard Nixon signed the national speed limit into law

1965 United States President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law

1924 Astronomer Edwin Hubble formally announced that the Milky Way is just one of many galaxies in the universe

2002 The Legislative Assembly appointed Eduardo Duhalde as interim President of Argentina

1963 President John F. Kennedy signed the United States Equal Pay Act into law

1990 Panamanian dictator Noriega surrendered to the United States

1926 John Logie Baird gave the first public demonstration of a live television system

1836 Spain recognized the independence of Mexico by signing the Santa María–Calatrava Treaty

2003 The Spirit Rover was launched by NASA to start the Mars Exploration Rover mission

1964 Kenya became a republic

1964 United States President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law

1895 German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered X-Rays

1949 Queen Juliana of the Netherlands signed the papers to grant independence to Indonesia