1893

France becomes the first country to introduce motor vehicle registration plates.

1908

The world's first international beauty contest is held at the Pier Hippodrome at Folkestone, England.

1941

The Atlantic Charter is signed by US President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill. The charter was later included in the United Nations Declaration.

1945

The National Insurrection Committee appeals to all Vietnamese people to rise up against Japanese occupation. From August 14 to 18, the general insurrection, later known as the August Revolution, spread to rural areas in the north, most of Central Viet Nam and parts of the south, to be crowned with complete victory on August 19.

1945

Japan accepts the Allies' terms of unconditional surrender, ending World War II.

1947

Pakistan is founded when British rule over the region ends and the Asian subcontinent is partitioned into Islamic Pakistan and predominantly Hindu India. Pakistan is comprised of two portions, West and East, which later became independent Bangladesh.

1971

Bahrain declares itself a fully independent and sovereign state.

1973

US bombing in Cambodia ends, marking an official halt to 12 years of combat activity in Indochina.

1976

Viet Nam is recognised as a member of the co-ordination commission of non-aligned movement.

2003

A massive power failure hits eight states in the Northeastern and Midwestern US and Eastern Canada, knocking out electricity in an area home to more than 50 million people.

2005

A Cypriot airliner filled with vacationers slams into a hill near the ancient city of Marathon, killing all 121 people on board – including dozens of children – in Greece's deadliest plane crash, which initial signs show was caused by a technical problem.

2007

Armed pirates attack a Malaysian barge in the Malacca Strait and kidnap two Indonesian crew, in the first high sea abduction in the busy waterway in more than two years.

2010

The deadly, waterborne disease cholera surfaces in flood-ravaged Pakistan, the UN confirms, adding to the misery of 20 million people the government says have been made homeless by the disaster. — REUTERS/AP