On this day in 1926, George Bernard Shaw, Irish-born British playwright who won the 1925 Nobel Prize for literature, refused to accept the prize money. He requested it be used to finance translation of fellow playwright August Strindberg’s works from Swedish to English.
On this day in 1974, President Gerald Ford arrived in Tokyo, becoming the first US president to visit Japan.
On this day in 1978, more than 900 members of a cult led by American pastor Jim Jones committed suicide in Jonestown, Guyana, by drinking a cyanide-laced fruit drink.
On this day in 1987, up to 34 people were killed as a fire swept through King's Cross underground station, one of London's busiest interchanges.
On this day in 2012, as part of his pivot to Asia policy, US President Barack Obama made his first visit to three Southeast Asian countries after winning re-election.