1756 – Architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli presented the Catherine Palace, a Rococo palace in Tsarskoye Selo, to Empress Elizabeth of Russia.
1825 – Malden Island (pictured), now one of Kiribati's Line Islands, was discovered.
1864 – American Civil War: Union forces failed to break Confederate lines by exploding a large mine under their trenches at the Battle of the Crater in Petersburg, Virginia.
1930 – Uruguay defeated Argentina, 4–2, in front of their home crowd at Estadio Centenario in Montevideo to win the first Football World Cup.
1965 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Social Security Act into law, establishing Medicare and Medicaid to provide federal health insurance for the elderly and for low income families, respectively.
2006 – Lebanon War: The Israeli Air Force attacked a three-story building near the South Lebanese village of Qana, killing at least 28 civilians, including 16 children.