63BC

Birth of Augustus (also known as Caesar Augustus). First Roman emperor and the adopted son and heir to Julius Caesar, he established the Pax Romana – a state of peace throughout the Roman world.

1817

Spain signs a treaty with Britain to end the slave trade.

1819

Birth of French physicist Armand Fizeau. He was the first to measure the speed of light successfully without using astronomical calculations.

1846

German astronomer Johann Galle discovers the planet Neptune.

1870

Death of Prosper Merimee, French dramatist and short story writer, notably of Carmen.

1930

Birth of Ray Charles, US singer and pianist. He battled childhood poverty, blindness and drugs to become one of America's most enduring popular musicians; his hits included Georgia on My Mind.

1932

Hijaz and Nejd and other districts are merged to form the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

1954

Britain, France, United States and Soviet Union agree to end occupation of Germany.

1973

Juan Peron and his wife Maria Estela Martinez, known as Isabelita, are elected president and vice-president of Argentina.

1975

The Democratic Republic of Viet Nam and the Federal Republic of Germany establish ambassadorial level diplomatic relations.

1976

Viet Nam joins the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

1990

Swiss citizens vote to ban the construction of nuclear power plants for the rest of the century but not to abandon nuclear power altogether.

1992

Viet Nam and Azerbaijan establish full diplomatic relations.

1998

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat agree on a breakthrough land-for-peace West Bank accord after eight days of negotiations in the United States.

1999

Illinois' George Ryan pays the first visit to Cuba by a US governor since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, declaring he has come "to build bridges between people".

2001

Indonesia's parliament passes a bill granting the rebellious province of Irian Jaya sweeping autonomy, a greater share of resource revenues and a new name – Papua.

2007

NASA's space shuttle Discovery and a crew of seven rocket into orbit in pursuit of the international space station, where a formidable construction job awaits them. — AP/REUTERS/VNS