On this day in 1895, the Qing Court and Japan signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki, and Taiwan was ceded to Japan.
On this day in 1961, a group of Cuban exiles financed and trained by the CIA landed at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro.
On this day in 1975, the Cambodian Civil War ended. The Khmer Rouge captured the capital Phnom Penh and Cambodian government forces surrendered.
On this day in 1980, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) accepted China as a member, and Taiwan was forced to pull out of the organization.
On this day in 2014, NASA's Kepler confirmed the discovery of the first Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of another star.