On this day in 1945, Henry Pu Yi stepped down as emperor of Manchukuo, a puppet regime installed in China by the Japanese in 1932. He was nabbed by Russian troops two days later.
On this day in 1977, anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko was arrested at a police roadblock in King William's Town, South Africa. He later died from injuries sustained during this arrest, bringing attention to South Africa's apartheid policies.
On this day in 2005, a massive power blackout hit the Indonesian island of Java, affecting almost 100 million people, one of the largest and most widespread power outages in history.
And on this day in 2008, President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf resigned under threat of impeachment.