1794-French Revolutionary figure Maximilien Robespierre and 22 other leaders of "the Terror" are guillotined to thunderous cheers in Paris
1914-Austria-Hungary decides against mediation and declares war on Serbia, the first declaration of war of World War I
1917-Silent Parade organized by James Weldon Johnson, 10,000 African Americans march on Fifth Avenue in NYC to protest against lynching
1943-Operation Gomorrah: RAF bombing over Hamburg causes a firestorm that kills 42,600 German civilians
1976 Tangshan Earthquake, 7.6 in magnitude, kills over 300,000 in northern China, the largest loss of life from an earthquake in the 20th century
2005-The Provisional Irish Republican Army calls an end to its 30-year-long armed campaign in Northern Ireland