1991 - Evander Holyfield got more than he expected from Bert Cooper in Atlanta but retained his undisputed world heavyweight title when he stopped the challenger in the seventh round. Holyfield, put on hold by former champion Mike Tyson, was knocked down for the first time in his professional career in the third round, but responded by beating Cooper senseless over the next four rounds. Referee Mills Lane stopped the bout with just two seconds remaining in the seventh round after Holyfield had delivered an incredible flurry of punches as Cooper stood defenceless in a neutral corner. Holyfield remained undefeated in 27 professional bouts while Cooper lost for the eighth time against 26 wins.
Other important events
1863 - The Battle of Chattanooga, one of the most decisive battles of the American Civil War, begins.
1890 - Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is separated from the Netherlands.
1891 - Deodoroda Fonseca, first president of Brazil, is ousted by a navy revolt.
1921 - US bans doctors from prescribing beer or liquor for medicinal purposes.
1932 - The kingdoms of Nejd and Hejaz merge to become the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
1943 - US defeats Japan in Pacific battle of Tarawa in the Second World War.
1963 - Sixty-three elderly people at Golden Age Nursing Home in Ohio die in a fire.
1971 - China takes seat as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
1980 - An earthquake in the Naples area of Italy kills 2,570 people.
1986 - Philippine President Corazon Aquino dismisses defence chief Juan Ponce Enrile after reported coup attempt.
1987 - An Iranian warship attacks two ships with rocket-propelled grenades in the Strait of Hormuz.
1990 - Iraq ends curfew in occupied Kuwait, but begins calling up army reservists in their thirties.
1994 - A large cache of bomb-grade uranium is transferred from Kazakhstan to the US.
1996 - A hijacked Ethiopian airliner carrying 175 passengers runs out of fuel and crashes on the Comoros Islands, killing 125 people.
2000 - The UAE donates $150 million to the Intifada and Al Quds funds.
2001 - A huge landslide buries gold miners illegally digging into the side of a mountain in western Colombia, killing at least 28 people.
2003 - Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze resigns.
