1895 American inventor Frederick E Blaisdell patents the pencil.
1906 London selected to host 1908 Olympics.
1944 World War II: US President Franklin Roosevelt announces the 6th War Loan Drive, aimed at selling $US14 billion in war bonds to help pay for the war effort.
1949 Prince Rainier III coronation as 30th ruling Prince of Monaco.
1973 New York stock market takes sharpest drop in 19 years.
1980 CBS TV bans Calvin Klein jean ad featuring Brooke Shields.
1985 US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet for first time.
1987 France performs nuclear test.
1994 Aishwarya Rai, 21, of India, crowned 44th Miss World
2010 New Zealand suffers its worst mining disaster since 1914 when the first of four explosions occurs at the Pike River Mine; 29 people are killed
