1960: Two cryptographers working for the United States National Security Agency left for vacation to Mexico, and from there defected to the Soviet Union.
1944: The final page of the comic Krazy Kat is published, exactly two months after its author George Herriman died.
1944: World War II: United States Navy and British Royal Navy ships bombard Cherbourg to support United States Army units engaged in the Battle of Cherbourg.
1910: Igor Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird is premiered in Paris, bringing him to prominence as a composer.
1910: The United States Congress passes the Mann Act, which prohibits interstate transport of females for “immoral purposes”; the ambiguous language would be used to selectively prosecute people for years to come.