1874

The first telegraph link between Brazil and Europe is established.

1940

After being overrun in a few weeks, France signs an armistice with Germany at Compiegne, in the same railway car used for the German armistice of 1918.

1941

Germany invades the Soviet Union.

1969

Southern Yemen's president, As Shaabi, is overthrown and replaced by five-man presidential council.

1973

Skylab 1 astronauts return safely to Earth after record 28 days aboard first US orbiting space station.

1996

European Union members meeting in Florence, Italy, fail to agree on a plan to fight high unemployment in Europe and oppose US efforts to punish foreign companies that do business in Cuba, Iran and Libya.

2004

The United States announces it will transfer legal custody of Saddam Hussein and other top prisoners to Iraqi authorities as soon as Iraqi courts issue the necessary warrants.

2006

Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas kiss and embrace in the first meeting between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in more than a year. Olmert also makes a rare apology for Palestinian civilian deaths in recent Israeli airstrikes.

2008

The head of the UN refugee agency in Somalia's capital is abducted from his home, the latest in a string of kidnappings in this chaotic African nation.

2011

President Barack Obama announces the withdrawal of more than 30,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of next summer, hastening the end of the long conflict that has been more costly than ever envisioned when launched in response to the 2001 terror. — AP