This day in 1955, in violation of segregation laws in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks refused to surrender her bus seat to a white passenger and was arrested, sparking a 381-day bus boycott led by Martin Luther King, Jr.
| 2000: | | Vicente Fox was inaugurated as president of Mexico, ending the dominance of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which had ruled since 1929. |
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| 1959: | | The Antarctic Treaty was signed by 12 countries, making the Antarctic continent a demilitarized zone to be preserved for scientific research. |
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| 1925: | | Germany, France, Belgium, Great Britain, and Italy signed the Pact of Locarno, a series of agreements intended to guarantee peace in western Europe. |
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| 1825: | | | Russian Emperor Alexander I died unexpectedly in southern Russia. |
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| 1814: | | General Andrew Jackson, commander of the U.S. Army of the Southwest, hastened to defend New Orleans, Louisiana, against British invasion; a series of skirmishes over the next few weeks culminated in the Battle of New Orleans. |
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