On this day in 1954, Viet Minh forces unleashed a massive artillery barrage on French forces to begin the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ, the climactic battle in the First Indochina War.
On this day in 1957, Cuban student revolutionaries stormed the presidential palace in Havana in a failed attempt on the life of President Fulgencio Batista.
On this day in 1969, Apollo 9 returned safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module.
On this day in 1988, the Seikan Tunnel, the longest undersea tunnel in the world, opened between Aomori and Hakodate, Japan.