1541 - Conquistador Francisco Pizarro was killed in Lima, today the capital of Peru.
1730 - Charles Joseph Messier, an astronomer, was born on the Messier catalog.
1843 - Hong Kong was declared a British colony.
1927 - Comet 7P / Pons-Winnecke spans Earth at a distance of 0.0394 AUs (astronomical units).
1945 - At a conference in San Francisco, delegates from 50 countries are signing the Charter of the United Nations.
1959 - A waterway was opened between the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes.
