1643 - Dutch explorer Abel Tasman becomes the first European to discover the island Tonga.
1840 - Jules Dumont d'Urville discovers Adélie Land, Antarctica.
1925 - Albania declares itself a republic.
1960 - Project Mercury: Little Joe 1B a Mercury spacecraft, lifts off from Wallops Island, Virginia with Miss Sam, a female rhesus monkey on board.
2003 - Colima earthquake; A 7.6 magnitude earthquake strikes the Mexican state of Colima, killing 29 and leaving approximately 10,000 people homeless.
