On this date:
In 1789, the first inaugural ball was held in New York in honor of President and Mrs. George Washington.
In 1847, the American Medical Association was founded in Philadelphia.
In 1915, nearly 1200 people died when a German torpedo sank the British liner "Lusitania" off the Irish coast.
In 1939, Germany and Italy announced a military and political alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis.
In 1945, Germany signed an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Rheims, France.
In 1954, the 55-day Battle of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam ended with Vietnamese insurgents overrunning French forces.
In 1960, Leonid Brezhnev replaced Marshal Kliment Voroshilov as president of the Supreme Soviet.
In 1963, the United States launched the Telstar Two communications satellite.
In 1984, a $180 million out-of-court settlement was announced in the "Agent Orange" class-action suit brought by Vietnam veterans who charged they'd suffered injury from exposure to the defoliant.
In 1994, Norway's most famous painting, "The Scream" by Edvard Munch, was recovered almost three months after it was stolen from an Oslo museum.
Ten years ago: The White House put aside President Bush's pledge of no new taxes, saying talks to strike a budget deal with Congress would have "no preconditions."
Five years ago: Jacques Chirac, the conservative mayor of Paris, won France's presidency in his third attempt, defeating Lionel Jospin in a runoff to end 14 years of Socialist rule. Leaders of 54 nations that fought on both sides in World War Two signed olive leaves in London in a ceremony of reconciliation.
One year ago: NATO jets struck the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, killing three people and injuring 20; President Clinton called the attack a "tragic mistake." A jury in Pontiac, Michigan, ordered "The Jenny Jones Show" to pay $25 million to the family of Scott Amedure, a gay man who was shot to death after revealing a crush on Jonathan Schmitz, a fellow guest on the talk show.
"Men tire themselves in pursuit of rest."
-- Laurence Sterne, English author (1713-1768).
