Reuters
1935 - The French army officer Alfred Dreyfus died. Dreyfus, who was Jewish, was convicted on a false charge of treason in 1894 and his case became the centre of a controversy that divided French society for decades.
1937 - The American composer George Gershwin died. Famed for his "Rhapsody in Blue" and "An American in Paris", he also wrote many popular songs as well as the opera "Porgy and Bess".
1940 - Marshal Henri Petain was declared Head of State of the collaborationist Vichy France in the wake of France's defeat by Nazi Germany and the resignation of President Albert Lebrun.
1989 - The British stage and film actor Laurence Olivier died aged 82. His many films included "Henry V" and "Hamlet", for which he won an Oscar for best actor.
1995 - Bosnian Serb forces overran Srebrenica, a U.N.-declared "safe area", sending tens of thousands of Muslims fleeing for their lives. Serbs killed some 8,000 men and boys.
1996 - The U.N. Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia in The Hague issued international arrest warrants for Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic on charges of genocide and war crimes.
2001 - Cambodian lawmakers approved legislation paving the way for a trial of former leaders of the Khmer Rouge, blamed for some 1.7 million deaths during their 1975-79 "Killing Fields" rule.
2003 - India and Pakistan reopened a cross-border bus route between Lahore and New Delhi, a year after they came close to war, renewing hopes of an end to decades of enmity.
2006 - Bombs exploded on packed commuter trains and stations in India's financial hub, Mumbai, killing 186 people. The attacks were blamed on Pakistan-based Islamist militants.
2009 - Swimmer Aaron Persol sets new world record in men's 200m backstroke.
2011 - Military base explosion in southern Cyprus.
