1876 – Wagner’s opera “Götterdämmerung” premieres in Bayreuth
1879 – Ferdinand de Lesseps forms French Panama Canal Company
1942 – US 8th Air Force bombers stage first independent raid on Europe, attack Rouen, France
1944 – US 320th regiment infantry occupies Châteaudun
1945 – Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta declare Indonesia (Dutch East Indies) independent from the Netherlands
1982 – First Compact Discs (CDs) released to the public in Germany
1994 – NY Central park reservoir officially named after Jackie Kennedy Onasis
1998 – Monica Lewinsky scandal: US President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony he had an “improper physical relationship” with the intern and on the same day admits before the nation he “misled people” about the relationship
2008 – US team Michael Phelps, Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen and Jason Lezak wins 4 x 100m medley relay at the Beijing Olympics in world record 3:29.34; Phelps’ 8th gold medal of Games breaks Mark Spitz’s 1972 record (7)
2016 – Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson wins 200m gold medal in 21.78; wraps up 100/200m Rio de Janeiro Olympics double