Today in history
1858 — First trans-atlantic cable is completed, enabling telegraphic communication between the United States and Britain.
1895 — Death in London of Friedrich Engels, German socialist, political writer and co-founder with Karl Marx of modern communism.
1915 — Warsaw, evacuated by the Russians, is occupied by the Germans.
1949 — Ecuador earthquake kills 6000.
1953 — Operation Big Switch, the exchange of prisoners of war between the United Nations Command and the Chinese and North Koreans, takes place at Panmunjom, Korea.
1962 — United States movie star Marilyn Monroe is found dead in the bedroom of her Los Angeles home.
1963 — US, Britain and Soviet Union sign treaty outlawing nuclear tests in atmosphere, in space and under water.
1965 — Cook Islands in South Pacific granted internal selfgovernment by New Zealand.
1973 — Palestinian Black September guerillas attack a line of travellers at Athens airport with grenades and machine-guns, killing three and wounding 55.
1974 — US President Richard Nixon admits he withheld information about the Watergate break-in.
1984 — Richard Burton, British actor of stage and screen, dies in a Geneva hospital, aged 58.
1990 — US troops intervene in Liberia’s civil war to rescue about 70 Americans in Monrovia following hostage threat by rebels.
1994 — Nato jets attack Serbs near Sarajevo after they seize a tank and other weapons from a United Nations depot and fire on a UN helicopter.
1995 — US and Vietnam declare an end to decades of enmity, formally establishing diplomatic ties and pledging a new era of cooperation.
1998 — Iraqi President Saddam Hussein breaks off co-operation with UN weapons inspectors.
2000 — Sir Alec Guinness, revered as one of Britain’s most versatile actors, dies at 86.
2000 — Dozens of neo-nazi supporters are detained by police in East Germany during a rally also attended by Germans protesting racist attacks.
2013 — Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos personally buys the The Washington Post and other newspapers.
2015 — Plane debris from the missing MH370 is found on Reunion Island. Today’s Birthdays: Neil Armstrong, US astronaut and first man to set foot on the Moon (1930-2012); Loni Anderson, US actress (1946-); Jonathan Silverman, US actor (1966-); Kajol, Indian Bollywood actress (1974-).