1654 – French mathematician, scientist, and religious philosopher Blaise Pascal experiences an intense, mystical vision that marks him for life.
1783 – Annapolis, Maryland, becomes US capital (until June 1784)
1848 – Female Medical Educational Society forms in Boston
1956 – Vladimir Kuts of the Soviet Union runs Olympic record 28:45.6 to win the 10,000m at the Melbourne Olympics; later also wins 5,000m gold
1974 – Alexis Argüello of Nicaragua knocks out Mexican defending champion Rubén Olivares in the 13th round at the Forum in Inglewood, California, to claim the WBA world featherweight boxing title
1983 – USSR leaves weapon disarmament talks
1991 – Evander Holyfield TKOs Bert Cooper in 7 for heavyweight boxing title
2015 – Lydia Ko (18) of New Zealand wins women’s LPGA Player of the Year and retains the Race to the CME Globe title worth $1 million
2021 – NASA launches its DART Mission, to test technology to prevent future impact on earth by hazardous asteroid, by deliberately crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid (in a real life echo of the movie Armageddon)
2021 – Egypt reopens its 3000 year old Avenue of the Sphinxes in Luxor with a grand ceremony