1777-King Louis XVI of France and his Foreign Minister clandestinely agree to supply the United States with munitions during the American Revolution

1829-William Austin Burt patents America's first typewriter, the typographer

1840-Union Act passed by the British Parliament, uniting Upper and Lower Canada

1942-Adolf Hitler's Directive number 45: order for army to advance on Stalingrad

1943-The U.S. 45th Infantry Division occupies the north coast of Termini, Sicily

1944-Bretton Woods Conference ends, establishes the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, later part of the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund

1959-U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon begins visit to the USSR

1989-Fox-TV tops ABC, NBC, and CBS for the first time with America's Most Wanted

1995-Comet Hale-Bopp is discovered and becomes visible to the naked eye nearly a year later