1498 – Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrives in India, pioneering a direct sea route from Europe to Asia.
1703 – Tsar Peter the Great founds Saint Petersburg city.
1941 – German battleship submarine Bismarck, with over 2000 men aboard, sunk after battle with British fleet during World War II offshore Ireland.
2006 – Some six thousand people killed in an earthquake that hit Java Island of Indonesia.
Born today:
1332 – Ibn Khaldun, founder of Sociology.
1923 – Henry Kissinger, American politician.
Passes away:
1964 – Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.