1627 - Spanish government goes bankrupt
1849 - Corn Laws abolished in Britain
1862 - Telescope maker Alvin Clark discovers dwarf companion of Sirius
1929 - Leon Trotsky expelled from Russia to Turkey
1933 - Hitler promises parliamentary democracy
1957 - Liz Taylor's 2nd divorce (Michael Wilding)
1957 - Trans-Iranian oil pipe line finished
1966 - USSR launches Luna 9 toward the Moon
1966 - Belgian state police kills 2 striking mine workers
1972 - Military coup ousts civilian government of Ghana
1974 - McDonald's founder Ray Kroc buys San Diego Padres
1977 - Frenchman Francois Claustre freed, after 33 months as hostage in Chad
1990 - First McDonald's in Russia opens in Moscow, world's biggest McDonald's