1889 - Tower officially opens in Paris. Built for the Exposition Universelle, at 300m high it retains the record for the tallest man made structure for 41 years.
1917 - US purchases Danish West Indies for $25M & renames them Virgin Islands
1918 - 1st daylight savings time in US goes into effect
1931 - An earthquake destroys Managua, Nicaragua, killing 2,000.
1979 - The last British soldier leaves the Maltese islands; Malta declares its Freedom Day (Jum il-Helsien).
