1931 -- The failure of Credit-Anstalt, Austria's largest bank, marked the start of Central Europe's financial collapse.

1943 -- U.S. amphibious forces landed on Attu in the Aleutians, the first American territory to be recaptured from the Japanese.

1949 -- Siam changed its name to Thailand.

1987 -- The Indian government imposed direct rule on Punjab because of the terror campaign being waged by Sikh extremists.

1988 -- Harold "Kim" Philby, British intelligence officer and journalist, died.

1994 -- Deir Al-Balah became the first Gaza town to come under Palestinian self-rule.

1996 -- A ValuJet Airlines DC-9 crashed in the swampy Everglades near Miami International Airport, killing 110.

1996 -- Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nigeria's first president, died. President from 1963, he helped to end the Biafran civil war.

1997 -- Garry Kasparov was defeated at chess by the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue -- the first time a machine had triumphed over a reigning world champion.

1998 -- The first euro coin to be minted came off the presses in France.

1998 -- India conducted three underground nuclear tests, bringing worldwide condemnation and heightened tension with Pakistan.

2000 -- India welcomed its billionth citizen when a baby girl was born at Delhi's state-run Safdarjang Hospital.