11 August 1847

Ken Levine's System Shock 2 was released to mediocre sales, but later received critical acclaim and influenced subsequent first-person shooter game design.

A tornado struck downtown Salt Lake City, damaging 120 homes and injuring over 100 people.

Two Aeroflot passenger jets collided in mid-air near Dniprodzerzhynsk in the Ukrainian SSR, killing all 178 people on both aircraft.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration initiated an investigation into the alleged vulnerability of the Ford Pinto (example pictured) to fuel leakage and fire in a rear-end collision.

The Timorese Democratic Union launched a coup in Portuguese Timor, starting the East Timorese civil war.

At a party in New York City, Jamaican musician DJ Kool Herc (pictured) began rapping during an extended break, laying the foundation for hip hop music.

King Talal of Jordan was forced to abdicate due to mental illness and was succeeded by his eldest son Hussein.

Amid rumors of kidnappings of children by Jews in Kraków, a crowd of Poles took part in a pogrom, resulting in at least one death.

The first Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic, the oldest and largest African-American parade in the United States, was held in Chicago.

Francis Light founded George Town (city hall pictured), the first British settlement in Southeast Asia and the present-day capital of the Malaysian state of Penang.

The first conclave to be held in the Sistine Chapel elected Roderic Borja as Pope Alexander VI to succeed Innocent VIII.

Reconquista: Aragonese forces led by King James II landed on the coast of Almería, beginning an ultimately unsuccessful siege of the city, then held by the Emirate of Granada.

Luna 25 launches from the Vostochny Cosmodrome.

The oil tanker MT Solar 1 sinks off the coast of Guimaras and Negros Islands in the Philippines, causing the country's worst oil spill.

NATO takes over command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, marking its first major operation outside Europe in its 54-year-history.

The Russell Hill subway accident in Toronto kills 3 and injures 30, due to a combination of human error and a safety system design flaw.

The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota opens. At the time the largest shopping mall in the United States.

Nickelodeon's first line of "Nicktoons" (Doug, Rugrats & Ren & Stimpy) premiere on the channel.

A bomb explodes on Pan Am Flight 830, en route from Tokyo, Japan to Honolulu, Hawaii, killing one passenger and injuring 15 others.

Two Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-134s collide over the Ukrainian city of Dniprodzerzhynsk and crash, killing all 178 aboard both airliners.

East Timor: Governor Mário Lemos Pires of Portuguese Timor abandons the capital Dili, following a coup by the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) and the outbreak of civil war between UDT and Fretilin.

At the 1520 Sedgwick Avenue apartment building in The Bronx, New York, DJ Kool Herc hosts a house party widely considered to mark the birthplace of hip-hop culture and music. DJ Kool Herc demonstrates a new technique of beat juggling and Coke La Rock performs a new style of vocal performance called rapping.

Vietnam War: The last United States ground combat unit leaves South Vietnam.

The Apollo 11 astronauts are released from a three-week quarantine following their liftoff from the Moon.