Hurricane Irene strikes the United States east coast, killing 47 and causing an estimated $15.6 billion in damage

The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa begins its final, paroxysmal, stage.

George Lincoln Rockwell, founder of the American Nazi Party, is assassinated by a former member of his group.

Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly across the United States non-stop (from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey).

A bank robbery gone wrong in Stockholm, Sweden, turns into a hostage crisis; over the next five days the hostages begin to sympathise with their…

Versions of The Scream and Madonna, two paintings by Edvard Munch, are stolen at gunpoint from a museum in Oslo, Norway.

The Mona Lisa is stolen by Vincenzo Peruggia, a Louvre employee.

Voyager program: NASA launches the Voyager 2 spacecraft.

A series of bombings in Baghdad, Iraq, kills 101 and injures 565 others.

A massive power blackout hits the Indonesian island of Java, affecting almost 100 million people, one of the largest and most widespread power outages in…