1835 -- U.S. author and humorist Mark Twain was born as Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Famed for "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."

1838 -- After the French occupation of Vera Cruz three days earlier, Mexico declared war on France.

1853 -- In the Crimean War, the Russian fleet attacked and destroyed the Turkish fleet and part of the harbor at the Battle of Sinope.

1900 -- Oscar Wilde, Irish poet, wit and dramatist, died in poverty and exile in Paris. Famous for "The Importance of Being Earnest"* and "The Picture of Dorian Gray".

1939 -- More than 20 Russian divisions -- almost half a million men invaded Finland in the "Winter War".

1954 - Wilhelm Furtwaengler, conductor of the Berlin Philarmonic Orchestra, died.

1963 -- A Transcanada airlines jet crashed soon after takeoff from Montreal, killing 118.

1964 - The unmanned Soviet spaceship Zond 2 took off for Mars but communication was lost in May, 1965.

1966 - Barbados proclaimed full independence within the Commonwealth.

1967 -- The People's Republic of South Yemen, comprising Aden and the former protectorate of South Arabia, was formed. On the same date in 1970, the country was renamed the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen.

1975 -- Dahomey changed its name to the People's Republic of Benin. 1995 - Bill Clinton became the first U.S. president to visit Northern Ireland and declared: "The time has come for the peacemakers to triumph in Northern Ireland."

1996 -- Sierra Leone government and rebels signed a comprehensive peace accord to end nearly six years of civil war.

1996 -- At least 100,000 opposition supporters, accusing the government of election fraud, marched in Belgrade as part of a campaign to try to oust Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic.

1997 -- Vaclav Klaus, the prime minister of the Czech Republic and his entire Cabinet resigned following a party funding scandal and the earlier withdrawal of coalition partners.