1916 -- The American writer Jack London, author of the novels "White Fang" and "Call of the Wild", died aged 40.

1943 -- British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo to discuss the war against Japan.

1963 -- U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, aged 46.

1975 -- Juan Carlos was sworn in as the first Spanish king since 1931. General Francisco Franco, ruler of Spain since 1939, had died two days earlier.

1977 -- After two years of legal wrangling, the Anglo-French supersonic airliner Concorde began regular flights to New York from London and Paris.

1989 -- Newly elected Lebanese president Rene Muawad was assassinated in West Beirut while driving in a motorcade to celebrate Independence Day. Sixteen others also died.

1990 -- British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher resigned after 11 years in office.

1991 -- The UN Security Council picked Egyptian deputy prime minister Boutros Boutros-Ghali to succeed Javier Perez de Cuellar as UN secretary-general.

2005 -- Angela Merkel was elected Germany's first woman chancellor by parliament after her Christian Democrats won a national election.