Final conference on Antarctic Treaty
On this day in 1959 a final conference on the Antarctic Treaty convened in Washington, D.C., and, after six weeks of negotiations, the treaty was signed by 12 countries, preserving the continent for free scientific study. 1959.
China became the third country to launch a crewed spaceflight; Shenzhou 5, which was piloted by Yang Liwei, orbited Earth 14 times during the 21-hour flight. 2003.
South Africans Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk were named the recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize “for their work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa.” 1993.
A military coup in Burkina Faso overthrew head of state Thomas Sankara, killing him and eight others. 1987.
Chinese communists began the Long March, the 6,000-mile (10,000-km) trek that resulted in the relocation of the communist revolutionary base from southeast China to northwest China and the emergence of Mao Zedong as the undisputed leader of the Chinese Communist Party. 1934.
Classical scholar and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, one of the most influential of all modern thinkers, was born in Prussia. 1844.
Encouraged by her uncle Leopold, Queen Victoria of England proposed to her cousin, Prince Albert. 1839.
