1789-Bastille Day - the French Revolution begins with the storming of the Bastille prison in Paris, now celebrated as France's National Day
1798-U.S. Sedition Act prohibits "any false, scandalous, and malicious writing" about the government
1850-First public demonstration of ice made via refrigeration by Florida physician John Gorrie
1933-All non-Nazi political parties are banned in Germany
1977-North Korea shoots down U.S. helicopter, killing three
1992-386BSD is released by Lynne Jolitz and William Jolitz, starting the open source operating system revolution. Linus Torvalds releases Linux soon afterwards.
2007-Vladimir Putin announces that Russia will withdraw from the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe in 150 days