1984 -- Soviet Union announces that it will boycott the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
1980 -- Eradication of smallpox is endorsed by the World Health Organization.
1973 -- Seven-day standoff between federal authorities and American Indian Movement members occupying the Pine Ridge Reservation at Wounded Knee, South Dakota ends with the surrender of militants.
1970 -- Beatles release last LP: Let it Be
1945 -- Combat in Europe ends in WWII: V-E Day. Germans agree to an unconditional surrender.
1942 -- Japanese sinks Navy aircraft carrier USS Lexington during the first battle fought at sea without having visual observation of one another.
1933 -- Gandhi begins a 21-day fast in protest against British oppression in India.
1914 -- Paramount Pictures is formed.
1886 -- Pharmacist John Styth Pemberton invents a carbonated beverage that would later be named Coca-Cola.
1861 -- Richmond, VA is named capital of the Confederate States of America.
1846 -- Zachary Taylor defeats a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande in the first major battle of the war.