1927 -- The film The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson opened in New York. It was the first full-length feature film to include spoken dialogue and is regarded as the first "talkie".

1928 -- Chiang Kai-shek became President of the Republic of China.

1949 -- Tokyo Rose (Iva Toguri D'Aquino), who broadcast Japanese propaganda to U.S. forces in the Pacific during World War II, was sentenced in San Francisco to 10 years' imprisonment and fined $10,000 for treason.

1970 -- A military junta took power in Bolivia following the resignation of President Alfredo Ovando Candia. General Juan Jose Torres declared himself president.

1973 -- Egypt and Syria launched attacks on Israeli positions on the east bank of Suez and on the Golan Heights -- the start of the Yom Kippur war.

1976 -- The military seized power in Thailand following violent clashes between police and students.

1978 -- Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Iranian religious leader opposed to the Shah, was granted asylum in France after being expelled from Iran.

1981 -- President Anwar Sadat of Egypt was shot dead by Muslim extremists as he watched a military parade in Cairo.

1989 -- The American film actress Bette Davis died in Paris.

1991 -- Actress Elizabeth Taylor married her eighth husband, builder Larry Fortensky.

1999 -- Chechnya's president, Aslan Maskhadov, introduced martial law and called for a holy war after Russia said its forces had seized one third of the rebel region.

2000 -- Yugoslav opposition leader Vojislav Kostunica was swept to power after an overnight uprising. He was acknowledged as president by Russia and the West.