Chile's independence movement, led by José de San Martín and Bernardo O'Higgins, won a decisive victory over Spain in the Battle of Maipú, which left 2,000 Spaniards and 1,000 Chilean patriots dead on this day in 1818.
| 2000: | | Mori Yoshiro of the Liberal-Democratic Party became prime minister of Japan, replacing Obuchi Keizo, who had suffered a stroke earlier in the month and subsequently died. |
|
| 1994: | | American grunge rocker Kurt Cobain, leader of the band Nirvana, committed suicide. |
|
| 1984: | | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar surpassed Wilt Chamberlain as the all-time leading scorer in the National Basketball Association. |
|
| 1856: | | | American educator and reformer Booker T. Washington was born in Virginia. |
|
| 1621: | | The Mayflower departed for England after having deposited 102 Pilgrims at what became the American colony of Plymouth (Massachusetts). |
|
| 1614: | | | Powhatan Indian Pocahontas married Virginia planter and colonial official John Rolfe. |
|
| 1588: | | | English philosopher and political theorist Thomas Hobbes, best known for his publications on individual security and the social contract, was born. |
|