Joaquín Balaguer

Lawyer, writer, and diplomat Joaquín Balaguer, born in the Dominican Republic this day in 1907, served as Hector Trujillo's vice president (1957–60) and subsequently as president of the country (1960–62; 1966–78; 1986–96).

The lethal combination of German blitzkrieg tactics, French inactivity, and Russian perfidy doomed Poland to swift defeat this day in 1939, when Adolf Hitler invaded the country and sparked World War II.

More Events on this day:

1985: The wreck of the Titanic was found on the ocean floor at a depth of about 13,000 feet (4,000 metres).

1969: A group of young army officers led by Muammar al-Qaddafi deposed the king and made Libya a republic.

1951: Australia, New Zealand, and the United States signed the ANZUS Pact.

1930: The Young Plan, the second renegotiation of Germany's World War I reparation payments, went into effect.

1923: A great earthquake struck the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area; the death toll from the shock was estimated at 142,800.

1914: The last known passenger pigeon died in the Cincinnati (Ohio) Zoo.

1870: The French army suffered a decisive defeat at the Battle of Sedan in the Franco-German War.

1864: The Charlottetown Conference, the first of a series of meetings that ultimately led to the formation of the Dominion of Canada, convened at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.