1698 - Russia's Peter the Great imposed a tax on beards.

1774 - The first Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia.

1793 - The Reign of Terror began during the French Revolution as the National Convention instituted harsh measures to repress counterrevolutionary activities.

1836 - Sam Houston was elected president of the Republic of Texas.

1882 - The nation's first Labor Day parade was held in New York.

1905 - The Treaty of Portsmouth, ending the Russo-Japanese War, was signed in New Hampshire.

1914 - The First Battle of the Marne began during World War I.

1939 - The United States proclaimed its neutrality in World War II.

1945 - Iva Toguri D'Aquino, a Japanese-American suspected of being wartime radio propagandist ''Tokyo Rose,'' was arrested in Yokohama.

1957 - ''On the Road'' by Jack Kerouac was published.

1958 - ''Doctor Zhivago'' by Russian author Boris Pasternak was published in the United States.

1972 - Arab guerrillas attacked the Israeli delegation at the Munich Olympic games; 11 Israelis, five guerrillas and a police officer were killed.

1975 - President Gerald R. Ford escaped an attempt on his life in Sacramento, Calif., by Lynette ''Squeaky'' Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson.

1977 - The United States launched the Voyager 1 spacecraft two weeks after launching its twin, Voyager 2.

1997 - Nobel Peace Prize winner Mother Teresa died in Calcutta, India, at age 87.

2002 - Afghan President Hamid Karzai survived an assassination attempt in Kandahar.