1710

Birth of Thomas Arne, English composer (died 1778). Largely self-taught, he wrote songs, oratorios, and operas. The song Rule Britannia comes from his opera Alfred (1740).

1799

During the War of the Second Coalition, Austria declares war on France.

1827

Death of Phan Ba Vanh, leader of a peasant movement against the Hue Court in northern Viet Nam.

1881

Birth of Kemal Ataturk (also known as Mustafa Kemal), Turkish soldier and statesman. He became Turkey's first president in 1923.

1883

Patriotic troops attack the French in Dong Son District of Thanh Hoa Province freeing many captured compatriots.

1890

Birth of Vaslav Nijinsky, legendary leading Russian dancer with Diaghilev's Russian ballet.

1913

Canberra becomes the capital of Australia when the foundation stone of the Federal Parliament is laid.

1925

Death of Sun Yat-sen, Chinese revolutionary leader. Known as the father of modern China, he briefly became its first provisional president (1911-1912).

1928

Birth of Edward Albee, US playwright and author of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1967, 1975 and 1994.

1930

Mohandas Gandhi opens a civil disobedience campaign in India against the British.

1966

General Suharto is sworn in as acting President of Indonesia after President Soekarno is stripped of authority.

1968

Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, a British colony, proclaims its independence.

1984

The British ice dancing team, Torvill and Dean, become the first skaters to receive nine perfect 6.0 scores in the world championships.

1993

A series of bombs explode in Mumbai, and at least 200 people are killed and 1,100 injured; Janet Reno is sworn in as the United States' first female attorney general.

1994

The Church of England ordains its first women priests.

1998

Astronomers debunk a warning that a mile-wide asteroid might collide with Earth on October 26, 2028, saying the calculations were off by 965,400km.

1999

The Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland join NATO in a ceremony at Independence, Missouri.

2003

Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic dies after being struck by two bullets as he walked from his car to a government building in Belgrade. — AP/REUTERS/VNS