Today's Highlight

2010: President Hugo Chavez holds on to a congressional majority in Venezuela's elections, but his opponents make gains that could help them challenge his grip on power.

Other Events

1679: Danes give up their claim to what is now southern Sweden, by the Treaty of Lund.

1815: Anti-liberal Holy Alliance is formed between Austria, Russia and Prussia to maintain Vienna Settlement, which revised map of Europe.

1907: New Zealand becomes a self-governing dominion within British Commonwealth.

1945: The government of Argentina reimposes a state of siege, arresting hundreds of people who have shown opposition to the regime.

1950: UN forces recapture Seoul, capital of South Korea.

1962: Imam Badr is driven from power in Yemen, ending a more than 1,000-year dynasty.

1965: Former President Juan Bosch returns to Dominican Republic from exile in Puerto Rico. His homecoming is marred by shooting outbreaks.

1969: Leftist military junta overthrows government of Bolivia.

1976: Leaders of five black African nations decline to accept plan presented by Rhodesia's Prime Minister Ian Smith to achieve black majority rule in Rhodesia.

1980: The Cuban government abruptly closes Mariel Harbor, ending the freedom flotilla of Cuban refugees into the US that began the previous April.

1983: Australia II wins America's Cup yachting series off Newport, Rhode Island, the first US loss in 132 years.

1984: Britain and China initial agreement that will return Hong Kong to Chinese rule in 1997.

1998: Vladimir Meciar's party loses in Slovakian parliamentary elections, forcing a change of government in Central Europe's bastion of authoritarianism.

2001: Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres meet at the Gaza International Airport in the Gaza Strip to move forward with measures for an Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire.

2003: The Katsina State Sharia Court of Appeals in northern Nigeria overturns the conviction of Amina Lawal, who had been sentenced to death by stoning under Islamic law after she was accused of having a child out of wedlock.

2005: The Irish Republican Army announces it has fully disarmed, a breakthrough verified by international weapons inspectors who say they watched the secret disarmament. Some hail the move as lifting the last obstacle to peace in the region, but others demand proof.

2006: Romania and Bulgaria win clearance to join the European Union in 2008, but face some of the toughest terms ever for membership in the bloc.

2007: Mounting pro-democracy protests against Myanmar's military government erupt into bloodshed for the first time, as security forces shoot dead at least one man and wound more in chaotic confrontations.

2008: The list of products caught in China's tainted milk scandal grows to include baby cereal in Hong Kong and snack foods in Japan.