Today in history
1875 - Georges Bizet opera Carmen premieres in Paris.
1878 - Bulgaria is liberated from five centuries of Ottoman Turkish rule; Peace treaty at San Stefano is signed, ending the Russo-turkish War and gaining independence for Serbia.
1918 - Germany, Austria and Russia sign the Treaty of Brest-litovsk, which ends Russian participation in World War I.
1931 - The Star-spangled Banner becomes the official national anthem of the United States.
1943 - 178 people are killed in an accident at an air raid shelter in London’s Bethnal Green, in WWII.
1974 - Turkish airliner crashes in forest near Paris, killing 345 people.
1978 - The remains of actorcomedian Charlie Chaplin are stolen by extortionists from his grave in Cosier-sur-vevey, Switzerland. The body is recovered near Lake Geneva 11 weeks later.
1991 - Motorist Rodney King is severely beaten by Los Angeles police in a scene captured by an amateur videographer.
1993 - Health pioneer Albert Sabin, developer of the oral polio vaccine, dies in the US, aged 86.
1997 - A passenger train derails in Pakistan’s Punjab province, killing at least 125 people.
1999 - An estimated 74 million US viewers watch Monica Lewinsky confess the details of her affair with President Clinton in a long-awaited Barbara Walters interview.
2001 - A foot-and-mouth scare makes its way from Britain to mainland Europe, with the discovery of blisters on the snouts of three pigs in northern Belgium, sparking drastic measures.
2002 - Swiss citizens vote in favour of becoming the 190th member of the United Nations, in a break with the country’s longstanding tradition of isolationism and neutrality in world affairs.
2004 - The French Senate passes a law banning Muslim headscarves in state schools by an overwhelming 276-20 majority.
2011 - Soldiers backing Ivory Coast’s defiant leader mow down women protesting his refusal to leave power in a hail of gunfire, killing at least six and shocking a nation where women’s marches have historically been used as a last resort.
2014 - The trial of South African runner Oscar Pistorius over the killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp begins in Pretoria.
Thomas Otway, English dramatist (1652-1685); Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-american inventor of telephone (1847-1922); Jean Harlow, US actress, (1911-1937); Miranda Richardson, British actress (1958-); Jackie Joyner-kersee, US athlete (1962-); Ronan Keating, Irish pop singer (1977-); Jessica Biel, US actress (1982-).