- 1439 – Plymouth, England, becomes the first town incorporated by the English Parliament.
- 1892 – William “Pudge” Heffelfinger becomes the first professional American football player on record, participating in his first paid game for the Allegheny Athletic Association.
- 1933 – Hugh Gray takes the first known photos of the Loch Ness Monster.
- 1936 – In California, the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge opens to traffic.
- 1990 – Tim Berners-Lee publishes a formal proposal for the World Wide Web.
- 2003 – Shanghai Transrapid sets a new world speed record (501 kilometres per hour (311 mph)) for commercial railway systems, which remains the fastest for unmodified commercial rail vehicles.