On this day in 1431: Joan of Arc was accused of being a witch and burned at the stake in Rouen at the age of 19. She was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church in 1920.
On this day in 1848: Mexico ratified a treaty under which the United States received New Mexico and California, as well as parts of Nevada, Utah, Arizona and Colorado, in return for payment of US$15 million.
On this day in 1924: The design of a "white sun in a blue sky over a crimson ground" was adopted as the national flag of the Republic of China.
On this day in 1989: A statue called the "Goddess of Democracy and Freedom" was erected in front of the huge portrait of Mao Zedong in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. The nine-meter figure was modeled on New York's Statue of Liberty. It was sculpted overnight out of fiberglass and plaster by Chinese art students. It became one of the most recognizable symbols of China's 1989 pro-democracy movement.
On this day in 1998: A strong earthquake rocked Afghanistan, killing some 5,000 people and destroying over one hundred villages.