Today in 1943, 80 years ago: Catania (Italy) falls to the British.

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Today in 1889, 134 years ago: the new building of the Sorbonne University is inaugurated in Paris.

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Today in 1914, 109 years ago: In Cleveland, Ohio, the first electric traffic light is installed.

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Today in 1993, 30 years ago: the Serbs offer the cession of the mountains surrounding Sarajevo to avoid an armed intervention by the United Nations.

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Today in 1915, 108 years ago: in Poland, the German army takes Warsaw.

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Today in 1985, 38 years ago: at his home in Los Angeles (United States), Paul Bregman, crew member of the bomber that dropped an atomic bomb on the civilian population of Nagasaki (Japan) on August 9, 1945, commits suicide. (See Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.)

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Today in 1908, 115 years ago: an airship is destroyed in the first accident recorded by these devices in the history of air navigation. Only material damage occurs.

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Today in 1916, 107 years ago: in Sadovo (Bulgaria) the highest temperature in the history of that country is recorded: 45.2 °C (113.3 °F).

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Today in 1940, 83 years ago: World War II: The Soviet Union formally annexes Latvia.

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Today in 1506, 517 years ago: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Crimean Khanate in the Battle of Kletsk.

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Today in 1971, 52 years ago: The first Pacific Islands Forum (then known as the "South Pacific Forum") is held in Wellington, New Zealand, with the aim of enhancing cooperation between the independent countries of the Pacific Ocean.

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Today in 1909, 114 years ago: the Cretan crisis worsens and the Ottoman Empire asks Greece to disavow the demonstration of the day before.

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Today in 1918, 105 years ago: Austria capitulates to Allied troops.

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Today in 1964, 59 years ago: in Operation Pierce Arrow, aircraft from the aircraft carriers Ticonderoga and Constellation bomb civilian populations in North Vietnam, in revenge for the North Vietnamese defense against American destroyers in North Vietnamese waters.

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Today in 2010, 13 years ago: Ten members of International Assistance Mission Nuristan Eye Camp team are killed by persons unknown in Kuran wa Munjan District of Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan.

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Today in 1974, 49 years ago: Watergate scandal: President Richard Nixon, under orders of the US Supreme Court, releases the "Smoking Gun" tape, recorded on June 23, 1972, clearly revealing his actions in covering up and interfering investigations into the break-in. His political support vanishes completely.

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Today in 1960, 63 years ago: Burkina Faso becomes independent from France.

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Today in 1963, 60 years ago: American athlete John Pennel improves his world record for pole vaulting, surpassing 5.13 meters in height.

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Today in 1860, 163 years ago: Charles XV of Sweden of Sweden-Norway is crowned king of Norway in Trondheim.

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Today in 1906, 117 years ago: Iranian constitutional revolution: Shah Qayar Mozaffareddin gives in to the protests and signs the signatory ordering the creation of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, transforming the Persian regime into a constitutional monarchy.

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