1902 - The independence of Cuba from the United States was announced, establishing a republic.
1956 - The first hydrogen bomb was detonated, dropped from the air by Americans over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
1996 - After six years of sanctions, Iraq agreed to a United Nations plan to sell limited quantities of oil to purchase food and medicine.
1999 - A German court convicted former Nazi Alphons Goeitzfried of war crimes.
1999 - The chief advisor to Italian Labor Minister Massimo D'Antona was shot dead in Rome. A statement allegedly issued by the "Red Brigades" claimed responsibility for the attack.
2002 - East Timor declared its independence, transferring authority from the United Nations mission that had governed the country since 1999.
2005 - French philosopher Paul Ricoeur passed away at the age of 92, being a humanist scholar and author of about 30 books, including "The Rule of Metaphor." He was known for his work in phenomenology, studying how conscious experiences shape perspectives of reality.
2006 - Nuri al-Maliki took the oath as Prime Minister at the head of a national unity government in Iraq.
2007 - José Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was sworn in as the President of East Timor.
2007 - Ethiopian Meseret Defar recorded the world's best time in the women's mile race.
2012 - Northern Italy was struck by an earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale.
