WEDNESDAY, Aug. 20, 2025

1597-First Dutch East India Company ships return from the Far East

1619-Slavery begins in mainland North America when the first known African captives (approximately 20) land at Point Comfort, Virginia, before being sold or traded into servitude

1741-Alaska is first sighted by a Russian expedition led by Danish explorer Vitus Bering

1905-Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-sen forms the first chapter of Tongmenghui, a union of secret societies determined to bring down the Qing dynasty

1968-During the night, 250,000 Soviet and Warsaw Pact troops invade Czechoslovakia to put down the Prague Spring

1993-Oslo Peace Accords are signed after secret negotiations in Norway, a public ceremony in Washington, D.C. is held the next month

1998-Supreme Court of Canada rules that Quebec cannot legally secede from Canada without federal government approval

2004-Ethiopian runners Kenenisa Bekele (27:05.10 OR) and Sileshi Sihine go 1-2 in the 10,000m at the Athens Olympics