1260: Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire

1893: Panic of 1893 causes a large crash on the NY Stock Exchange

1941: Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie returns triumphantly to Addis Ababa

1955: West Germany is granted full sovereignty by its three occupying powers

1965: First large-scale US Army ground units arrive in South Vietnam

1980: Siege at Iranian Embassy in London ends as the SAS and police storm the building

1981: After 66 days on hunger strike, 26-year-old Provisional IRA member and British MP Bobby Sands dies in Prison Maze. Nine more hunger strikers die in the next 3 months.

Source: Onthisday.com