1988
Mikhail Gorbachev was elected President of the USSR .
1979
The Panama Canal Zone ceased to exist. (The area remained under joint US-Panama control until 1999, and was then fully returned to Panama)
1974
1st McDonalds opens in London
1969
Concorde broke the sound barrier for the first time during a test flight in France
1958
NASA began operations, replacing the NACA .
1949
The Peoples Republic of China was proclaimed, led by Mao Zedong
1938
German forces entered Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, which Hitler had annexed under the Munich Agreement.
1928
The Soviet Union introduced its first Five-Year Plan for economic growth .
1918
Arab forces under Lawrence of Arabia capture Damascus
1908
Henry Ford’s ‘Model T’ cars went on sale for $825 each .
1881
Foundation of the Red Cross
1843
News of the World first published
1792
Introduction of Money Orders in Britain
1708
Death of John Blow, British composer and organist 300.
1207
Henry III of England born 1207 (reigned from 1216, died 1272). His reign was the third longest after Victoria and George III. A pious man who preferred peace, he was drawn into struggles with the powerful barons.
