331 BC: Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela

1688: Prince Willem III of Orange accepts invitation of take up the British crown

1814: Opening of the Congress of Vienna, redraws Europe’s political map after the defeat of Napoléon Bonaparte

1867: Karl Marx publishes “Das Kapital” in Berlin, a description of the capitalist system, its instability and tendency to self-destruction

1908: Henry Ford introduces the Model T car (costs $825)

1918: World War I: Combined Arab and British force under the Lawrence of Arabia, T. E. Lawrence captures Damascus from the Turks

1988: Mikhail Gorbachev becomes Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, effectively head of state of the Soviet Union

Source: Onthisday.com