Source: Infoplease.com
1969: A coup in Libya toppled the monarchy of King Idris and brought Muammar al-Qaddafi to power.
1807: Former U.S. vice president Aaron Burr was found innocent of treason.
1923: A devastating earthquake struck the Japanese cities of Tokyo and Yokohama. Nearly 150,000 people were killed and more than two million left homeless.
1939: World War II began when Nazi Germany invaded Poland.
1983: A Korean Air Lines Boeing 747 was shot down by a Soviet jet fighter, killing all 269 people aboard.
1985: A joint U.S.-French expedition located the wreck of the Titanic 560 miles off the coast of Newfoundland.
2004: Chechen terrorists took about 1,200 schoolchildren and others hostage in Beslan, Russia. Commandos stormed the school on September 3.