- 1628 – The Swedish warship Vasa (pictured) sinks in the Stockholm harbour after only about 20 minutes on her maiden voyage.
- 1903 – 84 people die in the Paris Metro train fire after a short circuit develops in a train's control system and sparks a fire.
- 1938 – A Lufthansa Focke-Wulf Fw 200 makes a non-stop flight from Berlin to New York, via Hamburg, Glasgow, Newfoundland, and Halifax, taking 24 hours 36 minutes for the trip.
- 1947 – a new world airspeed record of 1,031 km/h (640 mph) is set in the Douglas Skystreak.
- 1947 – British European Airways began the world's first regular cargo-only airline service.