1578 - A Portuguese attempt to invade Morocco was thwarted at the battle of Alcazarquivir. King Sebastian of Portugal, the king of Fez and the Moorish pretender to the throne of Fez were all killed.

1704 - An Anglo-Dutch force captured Gibraltar during the war of the Spanish succession.

1875 - Hans Christian Andersen, Danish writer of fairy tales including "The Ugly Duckling", died.

1914 - Germany invaded Belgium and when London's ultimatum to Berlin to withdraw expired at midnight, Britain declared war on Germany. The United States declared neutrality.

1916 - Denmark agreed to cede the Danish West Indies, including the Virgin Islands, to the United States for $25 million. The deal took effect the following March 31.

1936 - Ioannis Metaxas set up the dictatorial Fourth of August regime in Greece.

1940 - Italy invaded British Somaliland and occupied some towns in Sudan and Kenya.

1944 - After two years hiding in an Amsterdam back room, Anne Frank, her sister, her parents and four other Jews were discovered by the Gestapo. Her diary was found after the war, published in over 30 languages and turned into a play and film.

1956 - Asia's first nuclear reactor was brought on line at Trombay in India.

1981 - A U.S. court ordered striking American air traffic controllers back to work.

1983 - Bettino Craxi was sworn in as Italy's first socialist prime minister.

1992 - Millions of blacks ended a two-day general strike against white rule in South Africa, during which over 30 people died.

1993 - Japan formally apologized for the first time to women forced to serve its soldiers as sex slaves during World War II.

1995 - Croatia launched an offensive to regain the enclave of Krajina, held by its Serb minority for four years.

1997 - The world's oldest person, Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, died in Arles aged 122 years and 164 days.

1997 - North Korea handed over the remains of four U.S. soldiers killed during the 1950-1953 Korean War.

1998 - Canada's Nisga'a Indian nation initialed a treaty it hoped would restore land lost to Europeans some two centuries ago.

1999 - NATO named British Defense Secretary George Robertson as its new secretary-general, succeeding Javier Solana.