Today:
1492 – Christopher Columbus lands in Cuba during his first voyage to the New World.
1636 – Harvard College, the oldest institution of higher education in the United States, is founded in Massachusetts.
1726 – The novel *Gulliver’s Travels* by Jonathan Swift is published.
1886 – The Statue of Liberty, a gift from France, is dedicated in New York Harbor.
1918 – Czechoslovakia declares its independence from Austria-Hungary, leading to the establishment of the First Czechoslovak Republic.
1922 – Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini marches on Rome, marking the beginning of his rise to power.
1940 – Italy invades Greece during World War II, initiating the Greco-Italian War.
1962 – The Cuban Missile Crisis ends as Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announces the removal of Soviet missiles from Cuba.
2005 – Violent riots break out in the suburbs of Paris, triggered by the accidental electrocution of two youths fleeing police.
2018 – Jair Bolsonaro is elected President of Brazil, marking a shift in the country’s political landscape.