On Aug 27, 1859, Edwin L. Drake drilled the first successful oil well in the United States, at Titusville, Pennsylvania.
In 1883, the island volcano Krakatoa erupted with a series of cataclysmic explosions.
In 1949, a violent white mob prevented an outdoor concert headlined by Paul Robeson a Black performer, from taking place near Peekskill, New York. (The concert was held eight days later.)
In 1966, the Beach Boys ‘God Only Knows’ peaked at No.2 on the UK singles chart. The song broke new ground in many ways. It was one of the first commercial songs to use the word ‘God’ in its title and Brian Wilson used many unorthodox instruments, including the French horns that are heard in the song’s famous introduction.
In 1979, Lord Louis Mountbatten is killed when Irish Republican Army (IRA) terrorists detonate a 50-pound bomb hidden on his fishing vessel Shadow V.
In 1998, two suspects in the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Kenya were brought to the United States to face charges. (Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-‘Owhali (moh-HAH’-mehd rah-SHEED’ dah-ood ahl-oh-WAHL’-ee) and Mohammed Saddiq Odeh (sah-DEEK’ oh-DAY’) were convicted in 2001 of conspiring to carry out the bombing; both were sentenced to life in prison.)
In 2001, Israeli helicopters fired a pair of rockets through office windows and killed senior PLO leader Mustafa Zibri.
In 2007, Michael Vick, a star quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, formally pleads guilty before a Richmond, Virginia, judge to a federal felony charge related to running a dogfighting ring.
In 2008, Barack Obama was nominated for president by the Democratic National Convention in Denver.