1843 – Queen Victoria proclaimed Hong Kong to be a British crown colony.

1869 – Daniel Bakeman, the last surviving soldier of the U.S. Revolutionary War, died at the age of 109.

1930 – Mahatma Gandhi defied British law by making salt in India.

1941 – German commandos secured docks along the Danube River in preparation for Germany’s invasion of the Balkans.

1955 – Winston Churchill resigned as British prime minister.

2009 – North Korea launched the Kwangmyongsong-2 rocket, prompting an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council.