In 1990, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher resigned after 11 years in office as England's longest-serving leader of the 20th century.

In 1992, 10 women who had worked for or with Sen. Bob Packwood accused the Oregon Republican of unwelcome sexual advances.

In 1993, Mexico's Senate approved the North American Free Trade Agreement.

In 1997, New Zealanders Robert Hamill and Phil Stubbs arrived in Barbados from the Canary Islands in their boat, Kiwi Challenger, after 41 days, one hour and 55 minutes -- a record for rowing across the Atlantic.

In 2002, at least 100 people died in riots in northern Nigeria sparked by a religious controversy over the Miss World beauty pageant.

In 2004, an African Union helicopter rescued 45 aid workers, 30 of them from the Save the Children organization, amid renewed fighting at Al-Fashir in Sudan's Darfur region.

In 2005, Angela Merkel was sworn in as Germany's chancellor. She was the first woman and first person from East Germany to lead the country.

In 2006, Baghdad was put under an emergency curfew after a 24-hour wave of mortar and bomb attacks killed at least 160 people in a Shiite neighborhood.

In 2009, a suspected overloaded ferry capsized and sank in rough waters off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, killing at least 26 people but 232 others were rescued by passing boats.

In 2010, close to 400 people were killed and hundreds more were injured in a panic-driven stampede on a densely crowded suspension bridge during Cambodia's Water Festival in Phnom Penh. Survivors said they were wedged into the crowd of living and dead for hours. Reports said the panic was triggered by the normal swaying of the bridge.

In 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama urged Congress to do what a special committee couldn't do after 10 weeks of trying – agree on what to cut in drawing up a $1.2 trillion deficit reduction plan. Without such a plan, unaltered automatic defense and domestic cuts would kick in.

Copyright 2012 by United Press International