971: War elephant corps of the Southern Han defeated at Shao by crossbow fire from Song Dynasty troops; Southern Han state forced to submit to the Song Dynasty. 1st regular war elephant corps in Chinese army

1368: In a coronation ceremony, Zhu Yuanzhang ascends to the throne of China as the Hongwu Emperor, initiating Ming Dynasty rule over China that would last for three centuries.

1556: Shaanxi Earthquake, the deadliest ever recorded, kills 830,000 in Shaanxi Province, China

1973: US President Richard Nixon announces an accord has been reached to end the Vietnam War

1978: Sweden becomes the first nation in the world to ban aerosol sprays, believed to be damaging to earth’s ozone layer.

2020: China locks down the city of Wuhan and its 9 million people, in a belated but ultimately successful effort to control the city’s COVID-19 epidemic

Source: Onthisday.com