1535

Sir Thomas More is executed in England on the orders of Henry VIII for advocating separation of church and state.

1699

Pirate captain William Kidd is taken into custody in Boston, Massachusetts. He is later hanged in England.

1747

France and Spain break combined blockade by British fleet and troops of Austria's Maria Theresa at Genoa, Italy.

1809

Pope Pius VII, having excommunicated Napoleon Bonaparte, is taken prisoner by the French.

1827

Signing of the Treaty of London, under which Russia, Britain and France recognise the autonomy of Greece and agree to force truce on the Sultan of Turkey.

1885

French chemist Louis Pasteur successfully treats a patient with his anti-rabies vaccine.

1911

Ho Chi Minh arrives in Marseilles, France, for the first time under the alias of Nguyen Van, on his long quest for a way to save his country from French rule.

1923

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is formed.

1964

The Nyasaland Protectorate becomes the independent state of Malawi. On the same day two years later, Malawi becomes a republic within the Commonwealth with Dr Hastings Banda as its first president.

1967

Death of General Nguyen Chi Thanh (born 1914). He was secretary of the Southern Section of the Communist Party of Viet Nam in the war against US aggression.

1971

Death of Louis Armstrong, jazz musician. His groups, the Hot Five and Hot Seven, from 1925-27, had a revolutionary impact on jazz.

1982

The foreign ministers of Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia meet in HCM City to discuss regional issues. Viet Nam and Cambodia sign a historical agreement on the territorial waters of the two countries.

1997

Construction work starts on the 1,535m-long My Thuan Bridge, the first-ever spanning the Tien River, a Mekong tributary, with Australian assistance. — REUTERS/AP/VNS