1863: Abraham Lincoln issues his Amnesty Proclamation and plan for the Reconstruction of the South

1941: US and Britain declare war on Japan, US enters World War II

1941: US President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his famous “Day of Infamy” speech to a joint session of Congress a day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor

1965: Pope Paul VI closes the final session of the Second Vatican Council, an influential ecumenical council that significantly modernizes church practices

1966: The US and USSR reach an agreement on a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons in outer space (the Outer Space Treaty), which is signed the following month

2004: The Cuzco Declaration is signed in Cuzco, Peru, establishing the Union of South American Nations

2024: Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad resigns and flees to Moscow after rebel forces sweep into the capital, Damascus

Source: Onthisday.com