1901 - William McKinley, 25th U.S. president from 1896 to 1901, was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz while attending the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. He died eight days later.

1914 - In World War I, the first Battle of the Marne began along a 300-mile (480-km) front when the French launched a counter-offensive against a German advance.

1940 - King Carol II of Romania was forced to abdicate by the Axis powers in World War II in favor of his son Michael.

1948 - Princess Juliana became Queen of The Netherlands when her mother, Queen Wilhelmina, abdicated.

1951 - Prince Talal was proclaimed King of Jordan after the assassination of his father, King Abdullah, in July.

1955 - Anti-Greek riots broke out in Istanbul and Izmir, Turkey.

1961 - Afghanistan broke off diplomatic relations with Pakistan.

1965 - India invaded West Pakistan in an attack aimed at preventing further Pakistani offensives against India in Kashmir.

1966 - South Africa's prime minister from 1958, Henrik Frensch Verwoerd, was killed in parliament by Dimtric Tsafondas, a parliamentary messenger.

1968 - Swaziland became independent.

1975 - In Turkey, an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale devastated the town of Lice and surrounding villages. At least 2,350 people were killed and 3,000 injured.

1988 - Thomas Gregory, aged 11, became the youngest person to swim the English Channel from Cap Griz-Nez to Shakespeare Point, Dover. The crossing took 11 hours and 54 minutes.

1991 - The Soviet Union recognized the Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as independent.

1994 - Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds held his government's first talks with Gerry Adams, head of the IRA's political wing Sinn Fein.

1997 - Britain's Princess Diana was buried in the grounds of her family home; the worldwide TV audience for the funeral ceremonies was estimated at over two billion.

1998 - Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, dubbed the emperor of Japanese cinema for films such as "The Seven Samurai" and "Rashomon", died aged 88.

2001 - Former British soldier Peter Bray became the first person to cross the Atlantic in a kayak, taking 75 days to complete the 3,000-mile (4,800-km) crossing.

2001 - A Kazakhstan court sentenced former Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin to 10 years in prison for taking bribes, illegal possession of arms and abuse of power.

2002 - Uganda President Museveni and Congolese counterpart Kabila signed an accord in Luanda to normalize relations following the withdrawal of Ugandan troops from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

2002 - The German government said it would pay more than two million euros in compensation to athletes who took part in former East Germany's systematic doping program in the 1970s.

2003 - Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas resigned after a power struggle with President Yasser Arafat.