1558 – Elizabethan era begins: Queen Mary I of England dies and is succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth I of England.
1603 – English explorer, writer and courtier Sir Walter Raleigh goes on trial for treason.
1855 – David Livingstone becomes the first European to see the Victoria Falls in what is now present-day Zambia-Zimbabwe.
1869 – In Egypt, the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, is inaugurated.
1919 – King George V of the United Kingdom proclaims Armistice Day (later Remembrance Day). The idea is first suggested by Edward George Honey.
1947 – American scientists John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain observe the basic principles of the transistor, a key element for the electronics revolution of the 20th century.
1950 – Lhamo Dondrub is officially named the 14th Dalai Lama.
1968 – British European Airways introduces the BAC One-Eleven into commercial service.
1970 – Luna programme: The Soviet Union lands Lunokhod 1 on Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) on the Moon. This is the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world and is released by the orbiting Luna 17 spacecraft.
1973 – Watergate scandal: In Orlando, Florida, U.S. President Richard Nixon tells 400 Associated Press managing editors "I am not a crook."
Births
1887 – Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, English army officer (d. 1976)
1923 – Aristides Pereira, Portuguese-Cape Verdean politician, 1st President of Cape Verde (d. 2011)
1937 – Peter Cook, English comedian and actor (d. 1995)
1939 – Auberon Waugh, English author (d. 2001)
1944 – Danny DeVito, American actor, director, and producer
1951 – Jack Vettriano, Scottish painter
1952 – David Emanuel, Welsh, fashion designer
1977 – Paul Shepherd, English footballer
1979 – Matthew Spring, English footballer
Deaths
1917 – Auguste Rodin, French sculptor (b. 1840)
1940 – Eric Gill, English sculptor (b. 1882)
1968 – Mervyn Peake, English poet, author, and illustrator (b. 1911)
1995 – Alan Hull, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Lindisfarne) (b. 1945)