On this day in 1915, D.W. Griffith's controversial film The Birth of a Nation premiered in Los Angeles.
During World War II, on this day in 1942, Japan invaded Singapore.
On this day in 1952, Elizabeth II was proclaimed Queen of the United Kingdom.
On this day in 1971, the NASDAQ stock market index opened for the first time.
And on this day in 1984, athletes from the Republic of China returned to the Olympic Games, taking part in the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia under the name "Chinese Taipei" for the first time.