1812: Napoleon Bonaparte arrives in Paris after his disastrous campaign in Russia.
1865: Slavery is abolished in the United States.
1940: Adolf Hitler issues his secret plans for the invasion of the Soviet Union–Operation Barbarossa.
1941: Defended by 610 fighting men, the American-held island of Guam falls to more than 5,000 Japanese invaders in a three-hour battle.
1956: Japan is admitted to the United Nations.
1965: U.S. Marines attack VC units in the Que Son Valley during Operation Harvest Moon.
1970: An atomic leak in Nevada forces hundreds of citizens to flee the test site.
1972: President Richard M. Nixon declares that the bombing of North Vietnam will continue until an accord can be reached.
1989: The European Economic Community and the Soviet Union sign an agreement on trade and economic communication.
2002: California Gov. Gray Davis announces the state faces a record budget deficit; the looming $35 billion shortfall is almost double the amount reported a month earlier during the state’s gubernatorial campaign.
2008: The United Arab Emirates holds it first-ever elections.
2010: In an opening act of Arab Spring, anti-government protests erupt in Tunisia.