1375

Death of Minh Tong, born Tran Manh; He was the fifth king of the Tran Dynasty and author of Minh Tong Thi Tap (Minh Tong's Poetry Collection).

1496

Christopher Columbus concludes his second visit to the Western Hemisphere as he leaves Hispaniola for Spain.

1624

England declares war on Spain; Dutch send expedition to Bahia, Brazil.

1629

England's King Charles I dissolves Parliament and doesn't call it back for 11 years.

1670

Death of German chemist Johann Rudolph Glauber. Glauber's salt, a hydrated sodium sulphate used in paper and glass manufacturing, as well as for laxative purposes, was named after him.

1862

The US Government issues its first paper currency.

1939

The Executive Board of the Indochina Communist Party issues an urgent communique mobilising the people against French policy and demanding the release of the management board of the Dan Chung (The Public) newspaper, recognition of democratic rights, and amnesty for political prisoners.

1945

300 US B-29 bombers devastate Japan's capital in what became known as The Great Tokyo Air Raid in World War II. The firestorm they created killed 100,000 people.

1969

James Earl Ray is sentenced in Memphis, Tennessee, to 99 years in prison for the April, 1968 murder of Martin Luther King, Jr.

1975

Vietnamese liberation forces overrun Sai Gon military bases in Buon Ma Thuot in the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands), opening the historic military operation that eventually brought down the Sai Gon regime on April 30.

1996

Death of Vietnamese professor Hoang Xuan Han, an authority on Vietnamese culture, literature, history and archaeology. His works include Danh Tu Khoa Hoc (Scientific Nomenclature) (1943), Lich va Lich Su Viet Nam (Calendar and History of Viet Nam) (1982) and Ly Thuong Kiet (1949). — AP/REUTERS/VNS