Today is the 190th day of 2014. There are 175 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

1994: The brother of media magnate and future Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi is indicted on corruption charges involving pension funds held by Italy’s largest savings bank.

OTHER EVENTS

1519: Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes lands in Mexico, founds the town of Veracruz and begins conquering the surrounding land.

1540: Marriage of England’s King Henry VIII to Anne of Cleves is annulled by convocations of Canterbury and York so he can marry 20-year-old Catherine Howard, his fifth wife.

1609: Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II is forced to grant charter permitting freedom of religion in Bohemia in what is now the Czech Republic.

1816: The United Provinces of La Plata — now Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and part of Bolivia — declare themselves independent from Spain.

1915: German forces in south-west Africa surrender to South Africans under Louis Botha.

1947: The engagement of England’s Princess Elizabeth to Lt Philip Mountbatten is announced.

1963: An agreement is signed to create Federation of Malaysia, uniting Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak and North Borneo.

1971: Last US base guarding demilitarised zone in Vietnam is turned over to South Vietnamese troops. Some 2,000 men storm King Hassan’s birthday party in Morocco, killing 100 people in an attempted coup; the king survives.

1989: Carlos Menem is sworn in as president in the first civilian succession in 60 years in Argentina.

1991: The International Olympic Committee readmits South Africa after three decades.

1992: The former prime minister of Bulgaria, Andrei Lukanov, is arrested on allegations of economic mismanagement.

1995: French navy commandos firing tear gas storm a Greenpeace ship shortly after it enters French waters heading for the site of planned nuclear tests in the South Pacific.

1996: Russia resumes an offensive in Chechnya after President Boris Yeltsin wins re-election.

1997: Nevada Athletic Commission revokes Mike Tyson’s boxing licence and fines him US$3 million after he bites Evander Holyfield’s ear in a title match.

1998: Colombian president-elect Andres Pastrana has a surprise meeting with leaders of the leftist FARC guerrillas, the first time a Colombian president meets directly with rebels.

1999: The leaders of China and Japan reach a secret agreement on trade terms ahead of China’s bid to join the World Trade Organisation.

2000: Police fire tear gas at unruly fans during a World Cup qualifying football game between Zimbabwe and South Africa, setting off a stampede that kills 12 people.

2001: A Chilean appeals court rules that General Augusto Pinochet cannot be tried on violation of human rights charges because of the former dictator’s deteriorating health.

2003: Canada’s Government announces a provisional distribution system for medical marijuana that would involve shipping government supplies of the drug directly to eligible patients’ doctors.

2004: The UN’s highest judicial authority rules Israel’s planned 680-kilometre-long (425-mile-long) barrier in the West Bank violates international law and must be dismantled.

2008: Iran test-fires nine missiles, including ones capable of hitting Israel, making a dramatic show of its readiness to strike back if the United States or Israel attacks it over its nuclear programme.

2012: International envoy Kofi Annan tries to rescue his peace plan for Syria by seeking help from Iran, a staunch ally and military backer of President Bashar Assad.

2013: A powerful car bomb explodes in a Hezbollah stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut, wounding at least 53 people in the most troubling sign yet that Syria’s civil war is beginning to consume its small neighbour.