After four decades of Cold War division and with pressure from the German chancellor Helmut Kohl, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev agreed to a unified Germany within NATO, leading to Germany's reunification this day in 1990.
| 1952: | | The first British atomic weapons test, called Hurricane, was successfully conducted aboard the frigate HMS Plym. |
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| 1945: | | The May-Johnson bill, keeping the atomic bomb a secret and establishing security regulations, was introduced into the U.S. Congress. |
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| 1935: | | Italian forces led by Emilio De Bono, under orders from Benito Mussolini, invaded Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in hopes of building a “new Roman Empire.” |
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| 1918: | | Prince Maximilian of Baden, internationally known for his moderation and honourability, was appointed chancellor of Germany. |
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| 1889: | | German journalist and pacifist Carl von Ossietzky, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1935, was born in Hamburg, Germany. |
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| 1866: | | Through the mediation of Napoleon III, Italy obtained Venetia in the Treaty of Vienna. |
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| 1862: | | The Battle of Corinth, an American Civil War conflict that ended in a decisive Union victory over Confederate forces in northeastern Mississippi, began. |
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