1407-Lama Deshin Shekpa visits the Ming Dynasty capital at Nanjing and is awarded the title Great Treasure Prince of Dharma
1516-Venice compels Jews to live in a specific area, establishing the first Jewish ghetto
1815-Mount Tambora in the Dutch East Indies experiences a cataclysmic eruption, one of the most powerful in history, killing around 71,000 people, causes global volcanic winter
1858-"Big Ben," a 13.76 tonne bell, is recast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry
1972-The U.S., USSR and 70 other nations agree to ban biological weapons at the Biological Weapons Convention
1991-Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is awarded to John Updike for novel "Rabbit At Rest"
1998-The Good Friday Agreement [Belfast Agreement] for Northern Ireland is signed by the British and Irish governments