Events
- 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Harlem Heights is fought.
- 1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Franco-American Siege of Savannah begins.
- 1863 – Robert College, in Istanbul, the first American educational institution outside the United States, is founded by Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist.
- 1880 – The Cornell Daily Sun prints its first issue in Ithaca, New York. The Sun is the United States' oldest, continuously-independent college daily.
- 1920 – The Wall Street bombing: A bomb in a horse wagon explodes in front of the J. P. Morgan building in New York City killing 38 and injuring 400.
- 1959 – The first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, is introduced in a demonstration on live television from New York City.
- 1961 – The United States National Hurricane Research Project drops eight cylinders of silver iodide into the eyewall of Hurricane Esther. Wind speed reduces by 10%, giving rise to Project Stormfury.
- 2004 – Hurricane Ivan makes landfall in Gulf Shores, Alabama as a Category 3 hurricane.
- 2013 – A gunman kills twelve people at the Washington Navy Yard.
- 2019 – Five months before the COVID-19 stock market crash, an overnight spike in lending rates in the United States prompts the Federal Reserve to conduct operations in the repo market.
Births
- 1823 – Francis Parkman, American historian and author (d. 1893)
- 1838 – James J. Hill, Canadian-American railroad executive (d. 1916)
- 1875 – James Cash Penney, American businessman and philanthropist, founded J. C. Penney (d. 1971)
- 1876 – Marvin Hart, American boxer (d. 1931)
- 1877 – Jacob Schick, American-Canadian inventor and businessman, founded Schick Razors (d. 1937)
- 1880 – Clara Ayres, American nurse (d. 1917)*1897 – Milt Franklyn, American composer (d. 1962)
- 1898 – H. A. Rey, American author and illustrator, co-created Curious George (d. 1977)
- 1911 – Paul Henning, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2005)
- 1914 – Allen Funt, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1999)
- 1915 – Cy Walter, American pianist (d. 1968)
- 1919 – Bill Daley, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2015)
- 1919 – Andy Russell, American singer and actor (d. 1992)
- 1920 – Art Sansom, American cartoonist (d. 1991)
- 1921 – Jon Hendricks, American singer-songwriter (d. 2017)
- 1921 – Korla Pandit, American pianist and composer (d. 1998)
- 1922 – Janis Paige, American actress and singer
- 1924 – Lauren Bacall, American actress (d. 2014)
- 1925 – Charlie Byrd, American singer and guitarist (d. 1999)
- 1925 – B.B. King, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2015)
- 1926 – Eric Gross, Austrian-Australian pianist and composer (d. 2011)
- 1926 – John Knowles, American novelist (d. 2001)
- 1926 – Roger McKee, American baseball player (d. 2014)
- 1926 – Robert H. Schuller, American pastor and author (d. 2015)
- 1927 – Peter Falk, American actor (d. 2011)
- 1927 – Jack Kelly, American actor and politician (d. 1992)
- 1928 – Rex Trailer, American television host, actor, and singer (d. 2013)
- 1930 – Anne Francis, American actress (d. 2011)
- 1931 – Little Willie Littlefield, American-Dutch singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2013)
- 1934 – Elgin Baylor, American basketball player and coach (d. 2021)
- 1934 – George Chakiris, American actor, singer, and dancer
- 1935 – Carl Andre, American sculptor
- 1935 – Billy Boy Arnold, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1935 – Jules Bass, American director, producer, composer, and author
- 1935 – Bob Kiley, American-English businessman (d. 2016)
- 1937 – Vince Naimoli, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2019)
- 1939 – Bill McGill, American basketball player (d. 2014)
- 1940 – Hamiet Bluiett, American jazz saxophonist and composer (d. 2018)
- 1940 – Butch Buchholz, American tennis player
- 1941 – Joe Butler, American singer, autoharp player, and drummer
- 1941 – Richard Perle, American political scientist and politician
- 1942 – Susan L. Graham, American computer scientist and academic
- 1943 – James Alan McPherson, American short story writer and essayist (d. 2016)
- 1944 – Linda Kaye Henning, American actress
- 1944 – Betty Kelly, American soul/R&B singer*1946 – Sonny LeMaire, American country music singer-songwriter and bass player*1948 – Ron Blair, American bass player
- 1948 – Rosemary Casals, American tennis player and sportscaster
- 1948 – Susan Ruttan, American actress
- 1949 – Ed Begley Jr., American actor and environmental activist
- 1950 – David Bellamy, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1950 – Henry Louis Gates Jr., American historian, scholar, and journalist
- 1950 – Loyd Grossman, American-English singer, guitarist, and television host
- 1951 – Vince Bell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1952 – Mickey Rourke, American boxer and actor
- 1953 – Kurt Fuller, American character actor
- 1953 – Jerry Pate, American golfer and sportscaster
- 1954 – Earl Klugh, American guitarist and composer
- 1954 – William McKeen, American author and academic
- 1954 – Frank Reed, American singer-songwriter (d. 2014)*1955 – Ron Brewer, American basketball player
- 1955 – Robin Yount, American baseball player and coach
- 1956 – Ross Greenberg, American journalist and antivirus pioneer (d. 2017)
- 1956 – Dave Schulthise, American bass player (d. 2004)
- 1957 – D. C. Drake, American wrestler
- 1958 – Orel Hershiser, American baseball player and coach* 1959 – Tim Raines, American baseball player, coach, and manager* 1959 – Victory Tischler-Blue, American bass player, director, and producer
- 1960 – Graham Haynes, American trumpet player and composer
- 1960 – Mike Mignola, American author and illustrator*1963 – Richard Marx, American singer-songwriter and producer* 1964 – Dave Sabo, American guitarist and songwriter
- 1964 – Molly Shannon, American actress, comedian and producer
- 1965 – Katy Kurtzman, American actress and producer* 1965 – Stephen Shareaux, American singer-songwriter
- 1966 – John Bel Edwards, American attorney and politician
- 1966 – Wil McCarthy, American author and playwright* 1966 – Kevin Young, American hurdler*1968 – Marc Anthony, American singer-songwriter, actor, and producer
- 1968 – Walt Becker, American director, producer, and screenwriter*1970 – Mark Schultz, American singer-songwriter
- 1971 – Joel Heyman, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1971 – Amy Poehler, American actress, comedian, and producer
- 1971 – Richard Slinger, American wrestler
- 1971 – Shawntel Smith, American beauty pageant contestant
- 1972 – Mark Bruener, American football player
- 1972 – Mike Doyle, American actor and producer
- 1973 – Justin Haythe, American author and screenwriter
- 1974 – Joaquin Castro, American lawyer and politician
- 1974 – Julian Castro, American lawyer and politician, 16th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
- 1975 – Jason Leffler, American race car driver (d. 2013)
- 1976 – Greg Buckner, American basketball player and coach
- 1977 – Gregory Ball, American captain and politician
- 1977 – Musiq Soulchild, American singer-songwriter
- 1978 – Dan Dickau, American basketball player and coach
- 1978 – Brian Sims, American lawyer, politician, and LGBT activist
- 1981 – Alexis Bledel, American actress* 1983 – Brandon Moss, American baseball player
- 1983 – Legedu Naanee, American football player
- 1984 – Sabrina Bryan, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
- 1986 – Gordon Beckham, American baseball player
- 1986 – Kyla Pratt, American actress and singer
- 1987 – Travis Wall, American dancer and choreographer
- 1988 – Teddy Geiger, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
- 1992 – Nick Jonas, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
Deaths
- 1819 – John Jeffries, American physician and surgeon (b. 1744)
- 1914 – C. X. Larrabee, American businessman (b. 1843)
- 1933 – George Gore, American baseball player and manager (b. 1857)
- 1950 – Pedro de Cordoba, American actor (b. 1881)
- 1965 – Fred Quimby, American animator and producer (b. 1886)
- 1984 – Richard Brautigan, American novelist, poet, and short story writer (b. 1935)
- 1992 – Millicent Fenwick, American journalist and politician (b. 1910)
- 1996 – McGeorge Bundy, American intelligence officer and diplomat, 6th United States National Security Advisor (b. 1919)
- 1996 – Gene Nelson, American actor, dancer, and director (b. 1920)
- 2001 – Samuel Z. Arkoff, American producer (b. 1918)
- 2002 – James Gregory, American actor (b. 1911)
- 2003 – Sheb Wooley, American singer-songwriter (b. 1921)
- 2004 – Michael Donaghy, American-English poet and author (b. 1954)
- 2005 – Gordon Gould, American physicist and academic, invented the laser (b. 1920)
- 2007 – Robert Jordan, American engineer and author (b. 1948)
- 2008 – Norman Whitfield, American songwriter and producer (b. 1940)
- 2009 – Myles Brand, American philosopher and academic (b. 1942)
- 2009 – Mary Travers, American singer-songwriter (b. 1936)
- 2010 – George N. Parks, American educator and bandleader (b. 1953)
- 2011 – Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, American singer-songwriter, harmonica player, and drummer (b. 1936)
- 2012 – Julien J. LeBourgeois, American admiral (b. 1923)
- 2013 – Patsy Swayze, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1927)
- 2016 – Edward Albee, American director and playwright (b. 1928)
- 2016 – W. P. Kinsella, American novelist (b. 1935)
- 2018 – James Burdette Thayer, American brigadier general (b. 1920)
- 2021 – Jane Powell, American actress (b. 1929)