1625

The British Parliament moves to Oxford to save itself from decimation as the black plague rages through London, killing thousands each week.

1798

Britain's Admiral Horatio Nelson destroys French fleet in Battle of the Nile, stranding Napoleon Bonaparte and his forces in Egypt.

1914

As World War One approaches, Germany declares war on Russia, shots are fired between French and German border patrols and Italy declares her neutrality.

1941

The Viet Nam Doc Lap (Independent Viet Nam) newspaper, or Viet Lap for short, with Nguyen Ai Quoc (Ho Chi Minh) as editor, makes its debut in Pac Bo Village, Cao Bang Province, as the mouthpiece of the Mat Tran Viet Minh (Front of Viet Nam Independence).

1944

The 63-day Warsaw uprising begins when Poles rise against the Nazi occupation.

1954

The population of Sai Gon-Cho Lon, among them many intellectuals, set up the Movement for the Defence of Peace, demanding peace, democratic freedom and the peaceful re-unification of Viet Nam through free elections as provided by the 1954 Geneva Agreements on Indochina.

1969

In the American war, Vietnamese forces launch simultaneous attacks in 40 cities, provinces and districts in the South of Viet Nam, inflicting 65,000 casualties, destroying 2,600 military vehicles and sinking 178 war vessels.

1973

The governments of the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam and the Republic of Singapore establish diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level. — AP/REUTERS