1281-During Kublai Khan's second Mongol invasion of Japan, his invading Chinese fleet of 3,500 vessels disappears in a typhoon near the Japanese coast

1842-U.S. Army Colonel Worth declares the Second Seminole War over after nearly seven years; over 3,000 surviving members of the Seminole Nation are forcibly relocated from Florida to Oklahoma, with only about 300 permitted to remain [1]

1945-V-J Day, the Empire of Japan surrenders unconditionally to the Allies, ending World War II (August 15 in Japan and other countries depending on the time zone)

1947-Pakistan gains independence from the United Kingdom

1969-British Army deploys on the streets of Northern Ireland, beginning Operation Banner

1980-17,000 workers strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland, beginning the Solidarity movement