1998 The drug Viagra from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in treating erectile dysfunction.

Constantinople renamed Istanbul
Built as Byzantium about 657 , then renamed Constantinople in the 4th century after Constantine the Great made the city his capital, the Turkish city of Istanbul officially received its present name on this day in 1930

Dominion of Canada created
On this day in 1867, with the British North America Act, the British colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada were united as the Dominion of Canada, and the province of Canada was separated into Quebec and Ontario.

Failed assassination attempt against U.S. President Ronald Reagan
In Washington, D.C., on this day in 1981, barely two months after his inauguration as the 40th president of the United States, Ronald Reagan was shot and seriously wounded by would-be assassin John W. Hinckley, Jr.

Eiffel Tower inaugurated
The 984-foot (300-metre) Eiffel Tower, a wrought iron technological masterpiece created by Gustave Eiffel to commemorate the centenary of the French Revolution, was officially inaugurated in Paris this day in 1889.

1976 Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne formed Apple Computer Inc., and it became one of the world's leading tech companies.
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Death of Pope John Paul II
The bishop of Rome and the head of the Roman Catholic Church from 1978, Pope John Paul II, who was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years and the first from a Slavic country, died in Vatican City this day in 2005.

Implementation of the Marshall Plan
On this day in 1948, U.S. President Harry S. Truman signed into law George C. Marshall's post-World War II plan to revive the economies of western and southern European countries so as to foster democracy in the region.

1949 The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed, the founding member nations of this military alliance being Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

1621 The Mayflower departed for England after having deposited 102 Pilgrims at what became the American colony of Plymouth (Massachusetts).

Olympics revived
Pierre, baron de Coubertin, a founder of the International Olympic Committee and its president from 1896 to 1925, realized his goal of reviving the Olympics when the first modern Games opened in Athens this day in 1896.

2001 NASA launched the Mars Odyssey spacecraft, which reached Mars in October and transmitted photos and other data back to scientists on Earth.

Celebration of the Buddha's birth
On this day most practitioners of Buddhism in Japan celebrate the birth of the Buddha, who lived in India sometime between the 6th and the 4th century and founded Buddhism.

Fall of Baghdad
Baghdad fell to U.S.-led forces on this day in 2003, several weeks after the start of the Iraq War, a conflict begun to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein because of his supposed possession of weapons of mass destruction.

Anschluss approved in Austria
In a controlled plebiscite in Austria this day in 1938, soon after Adolf Hitler's invasion of the country, 99.7 percent of Austrians approved the Anschluss (German: “Union”)—the political unification of Austria and Germany.