1813 – The British burned Buffalo, N.Y. during the war of 1812.
1853 – Gadsen Purchase: The United States bought 45,000 square miles of land along the Gila River from Mexico for $10 million. The area is now Southern Arizona and New Mexico.
1916 – Rasputin was murdered. His frozen body was discovered in a Moscow river three days later.
1922 – Vladimir Lenin proclaimed the establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
1958 – Revolutionaries under the command of Ernesto “Che” Guevara battled with government troops loyal to Cuban President Fulgencio Batista for control of the city of Santa Clara. After the rebel victory, Batista fled the country, with control passing to Fidel Castro.
1972 – U.S. President Richard Nixon ordered a halt to the bombing of North Vietnam and announced peace talks with the Hanoi government would resume in Paris in January.
2006 – Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging in Baghdad.
