1142: Possible date for establishment of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) League [disputed date – other research places date between 1450 and 1660]

1854: A major outbreak of cholera occurs in Soho, London; physician John Snow calls it “the most terrible outbreak of cholera which ever occurred in this kingdom”

1888: The body of Jack the Ripper’s first victim, Mary Ann Nichols, is found in Whitechapel in London’s East End

1917: Sun Yat-sen and his supporters’ ‘rump’ parliament establish a military government in China and elect Sun Yat-sen as Commander-in-Chief

1945: The Liberal Party of Australia is founded by Robert Menzies

1957: Federation of Malaya gains independence from Great Britain

1994: The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Sinn Féin) declares a ceasefire in Northern Ireland

1997: Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car crash in a road tunnel in Paris

Source: Onthisday.com