Today in 1869, 154 years ago: in Argentina, during the presidency of Domingo Sarmiento, the first national census ends.

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Today in 1949, 74 years ago: The Canadian steamship SS Noronic burns in Toronto Harbour with the loss of over 118 lives.

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Today in 1631, 392 years ago: Sweden wins a major victory at the Battle of Breitenfeld against the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War.

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Today in 1980, 43 years ago: in Asunción (Paraguay), a command made up of Argentine combatants killed former Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle (54), who had found asylum under the government of Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner.

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Today in 1978, 45 years ago: The Camp David Accords are signed by Israel and Egypt.

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Today in 2012, 11 years ago: Esperanza Aguirre resigns in Madrid from the Assembly she presides over and from her seat in it.

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Today in 1776, 247 years ago: American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Harlem Heights is fought.

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Today in 1959, 64 years ago: The first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, is introduced in a demonstration on live television from New York City.

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Today in 1956, 67 years ago: TCN-9 Sydney is the first Australian television station to commence regular broadcasts.

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Today in 1817, 206 years ago: in Venezuela, General Simón Bolívar orders, by decree, the incorporation of the province of Guayana to the cause of independence.1821: in Guatemala the Act of Independence of the Captaincy General of Guatemala is signed, an occasion that is celebrated by the States of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica as the Independence of Central America.

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Today in 1942, 81 years ago: World War II: U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Wasp is sunk by Japanese torpedoes at Guadalcanal.

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Today in 1795, 228 years ago: Britain seizes the Dutch Cape Colony in southern Africa to prevent its use by the Batavian Republic.

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Today in 1958, 65 years ago: A Central Railroad of New Jersey commuter train runs through an open drawbridge at the Newark Bay, killing 48.

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Today in 1879, 144 years ago: in San Salvador, the capital city of El Salvador, the current National Anthem of that country is sung for the first time in an official ceremony.

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Today in 1948, 75 years ago: The F-86 Sabre sets the world aircraft speed record at 671 miles per hour (1,080 km/h).

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Today in 1440, 583 years ago: Gilles de Rais, one of the first known serial killers, is arrested following an accusation brought against him by Jean de Malestroit, Bishop of Nantes.

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Today in 1967, 56 years ago: in an artificial well, 241 m underground, in the Nevada atomic test area, at 9:30 am (local time), the United States detonates its No. 520 atomic bomb, Gilroy, 19 kilotons.

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Today in 2006, 17 years ago: for the second time, Fidel Castro is elected president of the Nam (Non-Aligned Movement).

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Today in 1822, 201 years ago: in Chile, Ramón Freire (Supreme Director of Chile) signs in the same decree in which slavery is abolished the definitive prohibition of bullfighting and cockfighting in Chile because they were practices that undermined the Enlightenment, culture and were unbecoming of civilization.

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Today in 2011, 12 years ago: Four miners are killed in the Gleision Colliery mining accident in the Swansea Valley, Wales, UK.

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